Sanctuary
by Maetel
Summary: When Sailor Moon witnesses the death of an innocent, Usagi turns to Mamoru in her darkest hour. Sequel now posted. Check out For You I'll Die.
1. Sanctuary

Title: Sanctuary  
Author: Maetel  
Email:  
URL: N/A  
Rating: M 15+  
Summary: When Sailor Moon witnesses the death of an innocent, Usagi ends up turning to Mamoru in her darkest hour.  
Chapters: 1?  
Status: Incomplete  
Year Completed: Incomplete  
Size:

"Kiss Me Kill Me Til I Bleed  
You're the one that haunts my dreams  
Can you save me? Set me free?  
You're my sanctuary…"  
-Darling Violetta, Angel Main Theme - Extended Sanctuary Remix

Usagi stood in the park, beside the lake, staring out blankly at the surface of the water, her eyes shining with unshed tears. The moon cast a silvery light on everything, including the face of the girl who had never felt so lost. Just a few short hours ago, she had failed. Failed herself, failed the senshi who had depended on her to get to the battle while the rest of them stayed in school, failed the citizens, and failed everyone who had depended on her.

She looked over to Mamoru as he walked up beside her before returning her gaze to the lake. He simply waited for her to say the first word. To tell what had happened that would cause her to go through such a drastic personality change. He'd been watching her for about half an hour before approaching her, making sure that she wouldn't do anything drastic.

After a while, he grew unable to stand the silence between them and asked simply. "Usagi-chan… What happened to you?"

She blinked and looked over at him. With a laugh that seemed dry, hollow, and completely unsuited to becoming from the blonde, she replied, "I accepted the role of Sailor Moon. I let a cat give me the one thing that would change my life, and made the worst mistake of my life…"

Had anyone else said those words, Mamoru would have thought them insane, but it all added up. The way she'd simply have to run off at random points in time. The way she always looked so tired as of late. And now… Something had to have happened to cause her to become the way she had.

"But Sailor Moon is a hero. You've saved the lives of hundreds- No, thousands of people. Why would that be so bad?" he questioned.

"Because when the time came, I couldn't save one life," she told him as her tears finally began to fall. For the first time since seeing the accident, she allowed herself to cry.

Unsure of what to say, Mamoru simply did what every sense of decency was commanding him to do, and gently pulled the girl into his arms, allowing her to cry into his chest. As she began to calm, or were the tears simply drying up. Mamoru couldn't tell, but as her sobs began to subside, she began to explain everything that had happened during the day. How for the first time, she'd truly and completely hated herself.

How for the first time, she watched as a person had died in an attack.

_The youma had attacked a primary school. Usagi was the only one not at school thanks to a doctor's appointment she'd had to go to, and so, was the only one able to make it to the scene. The youma had been posing as a teacher, sent to drain the energy of innocent children. She had tried so hard to get the youma to come after her, and it had, but when… When it had attacked her, she had managed to dodge, but only to leave a path open for the youma to strike a child that had been heading into the building, late thanks to… She didn't know, but what the blonde did know was that it should have been her. She should have been the one struck down, and not one so young, whose life had yet to truly begin._

_When she'd seen the child fall, Sailor Moon had all but forgotten the battle. She'd raced over to the child, and tried to make sure that he would be all right. She stared down at him, trying to keep him awake as his blood pooled beneath them. Trying nothing more than to make sure that he was still alive. He was so young. He barely looked to be Shingo's age, and yet…_

_When the creature tried to attack her again, it's move was simply thrown off, and she stared at it with eyes filled with more emotions than she had ever felt in her life._

_"You!" she cried as she began to give off a light that started to expand all around her. "You did this! How could you! How could you do this to one so young! So… How could you harm a child!" With her last words, the light expanded and consumed the creature, instantly destroying it. Moments after the youma had been destroyed, the light faded, revealing the blonde heroine as she tried to stop at least some of the blood which had been quickly escaping the wounds inflicted upon the child._

_"Onegai…" she quietly begged in between soft sobs. "Please." She never noticed the sounds of footsteps running up behind her, and barely registered the hand placed upon her shoulder, or how it and three other hands pulled her away from the child as two other men in black and white uniforms knelt down beside the dying boy._

_They asked her about what had happened, and she explained as best she could. It was the least that she could do for the boy. She stayed long enough to see one man walk up from behind her, and drape a cloth over the boy._

_It was then that she ran. She didn't stop, even as she de-henshined, which also caused the blood that had gotten onto her knees to disappear. She didn't stop until she found herself standing inside the sliding doors of Crown Arcade. It was the only place she knew to go. Everything told her that it was the only place she could go. Home wasn't an option since her mother was gone, and seeing images of her little brother would only remind her of the child._

_"Usagi-chan, wh-" Motoki started, until he saw the look on the girl's face. She looked as though she had almost run a marathon, not to mention completely and utterly… broken. As though everything she had believed in was just shattered in an instant. "Usagi-chan, what's wrong?" he asked as he came out from behind the counter he was cleaning and walked over to her._

_"He- I- I couldn't save him…" she murmured quietly, almost to the point that Motoki couldn't make out what she had said. Before he had a chance to ask her who the "he" was, she collapsed._

_Motoki caught the blonde before she hit the ground, and picked her up to carry her into the back room. Once he had laid her on the couch, Motoki picked up the phone and dialed the number of the one person who would be able to make sure she was all right better than he would. He sighed when he heard the voice mail answer, but left a message nonetheless._

_"Mamoru-kun, I need your help with something," Motoki said, arguing with himself about whether or not he should tell his friend that the person was Usagi. He sighed when he decided that he'd not. "Someone collapsed in my arcade, and since you're the future doctor, you might have a better chance of making sure that she's all right. Just come by the arcade when you can. Arigato."_

_He then walked over to Usagi once again, and knelt beside the couch she was laying on. She looked so pale, which scared him, considering how she was fair skinned naturally, but now… She looked as though she'd seen death._

_Thirty minutes, and two customers later, Motoki was relieved to see Mamoru walk in to the arcade quickly._

_"Oi, Motoki-kun, where's the person you wanted me to look at?" the dark haired young man inquired._

_Motoki led his friend over to the door, but stopped him just before entering. "There's something I should tell you before you go in there. The person I called you about is Usagi-chan. And I'm not sure if it's just me, or what, but she doesn't look very good."_

_"What happened?" Mamoru questioned as he moved over to the door and walked into the room._

_"I'm not sure. She just ran in a little while before I called you, and muttered something about not being able to save someone, but I'm not sure what she meant. I'm not sure where she'd come from, so…" he sighed quietly._

_Mamoru looked at the frail girl, and frowned worriedly. He gently took her pulse before checking to see if she had a fever. "You said she ran in?" he asked, looking towards the blonde and continued when Motoki nodded. "She probably ran a great deal. And considering how it's not that warm out there, and school uniforms are that warm, she's probably just got a bit of a cold. She more than likely needs to rest for a while."_

_Meanwhile, Usagi had heard everything he said, but didn't utter a word. Instead she simply opened her eyes and stared blankly at Mamoru and everything behind him. It wasn't until Mamoru noticed that Motoki was looking past him and at the girl that he returned his gaze to her. He was confused when he saw that on her normally emotion filled face was no expression whatsoever._

_"Odango Atama? Daijobu?" he asked her, trying to see if the despised name would draw out some sort of reaction from the girl as she sat up, her gaze lowering to the floor as she rose._

_"Hai," she said quietly, not noticing the name, as she rose to her feet, shakily at first, but gained her footing after a moment._

_For part of the time that she'd been "sleeping," the blonde had actually been thinking. Since a few minutes before Mamoru had arrived, Usagi had been thinking over the course of what had happened, and her time as Sailor Moon, recounting all of the times that she had been berated by Mars for showing up late, or being lazy, or klutzy. It seemed as though the fiery senshi was right._

_"Gomen nasai, Motoki-kun… Mamoru-san," she said, her tone causing a great deal of worry from the two. For Motoki because he was presently recalling her words from earlier, and combining that with her present behavior. For Mamoru because the fire within her, that he loved to see in the midst of their verbal banter was just… Dead._

_"Usagi-chan, are you sure?" Motoki asked as he walked over to the blonde and grew even more concerned when she nodded, but didn't look him in the eye. Sighing, he knew that he wouldn't have much of a chance of getting a straight answer out of her for the time being, and since school was letting out, he needed to go make sure that the customers were served. With a quiet sigh, he looked to Mamoru and said, "Arigato for coming, Mamoru-kun."_

_"Don't worry about-"_

_"Excuse me for interrupting, but do you think I could rest for a while back here? Alone. I'm just still a little tired," Usagi asked quietly._

_"Oh!" Motoki said as he realized that he and Mamoru were probably the reason she woke up. "Hai, Usagi-chan," he told her as he slowly led Mamoru out of the room. "If you need anything, feel free to ask."_

_She nodded and laid back down until she was sure that they were out of the room. Usagi looked around the room, and saw the door which Motoki probably came through when he came to work. She had to get out fast. The girls would show up soon, and she didn't want to face them. Not yet anyways. She slowly stood and walked over to the door to the main area and pressed her ear against its surface. When she didn't hear any of the voices of her friends or Motoki and Mamoru, she hurriedly exited through the other door._

_Just as she stepped out however, she heard her name be called out by a normally berating tone, which was strangely worried sounding. When Usagi turned to see the source, she spotted not only Rei, but Ami as well. Slowly, the blonde shook her head and without a word, she raced down the sidewalk as fast as she could go._

_Usagi could hear the footfalls of her friends as they followed her, but too many high speed dashes to school gave her higher endurance than they expected or could match. She finally stopped running when she realized that they had been lost. She looked around trying to figure out where she was, and saw herself standing in front of the very school where the attack had taken place. Staring down, she saw a piece of concrete stained dark brown, and scenes of what happened flashed through her mind. The scent of the boy's blood. How warm the ground grew when she had knelt beside him. How cold his skin had grown as he lost the blood. As she reached out and placed a hand on the discolored paving, and she immediately felt the bile rise up in her throat, allowing it to escape until her stomach was empty, and then some._

_She wiped her mouth as she rose to her feet, but refused the urge to cry despite the way holding back her tears made her entire body shake. Despite how the urge to let the tears fall as more and more thoughts such as, 'Why cry for something that was her fault? She was the one who should be dead. Not one so young. Not one who did nothing but whine, wail, and walk into people,' went through her mind._

_She slowly walked away, not really caring where she was headed. Her feet guided her for almost two hours, continuing even after the sun had set. She didn't stop until she found herself standing beside the lake. Her sight was blurred as she simply looked out over the pristine water where Mamoru had found her._

All the while, Mamoru listened, finally realizing what he'd been feeling coming from the connection he had with Tokyo's young heroine. He'd felt her transform, but could go to her during the battle thanks to an organic chemistry exam. He'd been feeling almost complete and utter contempt for oneself coming from the link, and wondered what had caused such a reaction, but never had he thought that it would be what she had just informed him.

"Kami-sama," he sighed softly as he felt her sobs begin anew. He bent his head down and tried to think of things that would calm the girl down. How does one go about calming down a fourteen year old? Especially one with the weight of the world weighing down on the two odango atop her head. "Usagi-chan, gomen nasai. It wasn't your fault about what happened to the child. Just… Just think, if you hadn't been there, how many would have died?"

"H-How can you say that? You've never had anyone die because of you," she said softly.

"Maybe not while I was there, but while I wasn't, someone did die," he told her, causing the blonde to look up at him with eyes that were both full of tears and confusion. He closed his eyes for a moment before removing one arm from around the girl to pull a rose from the inside of his jacket and felt his clothing change to the tuxedo he wore to battle.

Usagi took a step back, as he fully released her from his arms. He watched her as she stood before him shaking her head in disbelief. The one person she never wanted to know about having failed. The one person who always seemed to believe in her. Why had she opened her mouth? She knew that it was a bad idea to tell Mamoru, but for some reason, she felt that she could have trusted him, and now… He might not trust her. He always inspired her to do her best in battle, and one of the few times he didn't appear, she had failed. She started to back away, ready to run, until he reached out and gently grasped one of her wrists.

"L-Let me go," she pleaded softly. "Onegai… I-I never should have said anything."

"No, Usagi-chan. If you hadn't told someone, this would have eaten you up inside until…" he said softly, stopping when he realized just how far keeping everything inside might have gone. "Today was just as much my fault as it was yours, but there is one thing that you have to realize: you cannot keep blaming yourself for every time someone gets hurt, or dies. If you do, the weight of this burden will crush you. You didn't kill the boy… Do you remember what you told me about what had happened during the attack? What you did when he was injured?"

"I-I tried to help him, but… The thing kept attacking…" she said, her sobs calming a bit, giving the masked hero some hope that maybe his words were getting to her. "A-And he- the boy just kept bleeding… I-I… I just couldn't make it stop…"

"That doesn't mean you killed him… That means you tried to save him. You did what you could to make sure that he would survive, and I'm sure that-"

"But Rei-chan… She kept telling- keeps telling me that one day someone is going to get hurt because I don't take what I do seriously. That I'm- That I'm not a good senshi… I just never thought that she would ever be proven right…" Usagi said as she fell to her knees despite how her wrist was still being held.

Mamoru thought back to just who Rei was. He knew that she was one of Usagi's friends and minorly attracted to him, but he figured that she had to be one of the senshi. "Usagi-chan, out of the three of you, you were the one fighting from the beginning. And I don't think that she really means those words. She was just trying to get the best out of you, and she didn't know how to do that without being blunt."

"Blunt or not, she was right…" Usagi sighed as she lifted her hand and wiped a few stray tears from her cheeks.

"No… She wasn't. You have been trying so hard. You do everything that you can," said Mamoru as he allowed his henshin to fade. He figured that she expected Tuxedo Kamen to try and make her feel better about herself, and that maybe his words would mean more if they came from simply Mamoru. "Usagi-chan, you may not be the best student, or the most graceful warrior, but when it comes down to it, you are a good senshi. You have saved this city more times than anyone can count. You saved all of the people who have been targeted by the Dark Kingdom, and I am sure that the others will understand what happened."

"What if they don't? What if they insist that I hand over my broach?" she asked.

"Then I'll be there to help you make them understand, if you want," he told her. "Just… promise me that you'll tell them. They need to know."

Usagi sighed and nodded slowly. "I will, but you promise you'll be there?"

Mamoru nodded. "Just let me know when you are-"

He was interrupted by a shrill beeping that came from the pocket of the jacket the blonde was wearing, and noticed how she almost immediately froze up. After a moment, she moved her free hand to the pocket and pulled out a small pink device.

"I-I'm here," she said, forcing herself to sound almost normal, making Mamoru believe that it was one of the senshi.

"Usagi-chan, there's a youma attack. Half a block from the dock," he heard a soft voice say only to hear a bossy tone call out from the background. "Tell that odango atama to quit messing around and get her butt over here."

"I'm on my way," Usagi replied to the voice before looking up to Mamoru. "I have to…"

"I understand. Just remember that I'll be there," he told her. She nodded and smiled weakly at him before he released her wrist.

"Thank you," she whispered before taking off towards the scene. A moment after she left, he saw a brilliant light filter through the trees, signaling that she had transformed. At that moment, Mamoru felt the familiar tug at the back of his mind, and allowed hid own transformation to wash over him.

He then headed in the direction of the dock, not knowing whether or not she would be telling the others, but that either way, she would need him in this fight.

"Stay strong, Usagi," he said quietly.

TBC! I hope everyone liked this chapter. I know it was a little dark, but it will get happier! I promise!


	2. Somebody Help Me

Title: Sanctuary  
Author: Maetel  
Email:  
URL: N/A  
Rating: M 15+  
Summary: When Sailor Moon witnesses the death of an innocent, Usagi ends up turning to Mamoru in her darkest hour. Minor alterations have been made on the timeline so that Mamoru knows who he is, while Nephrite is around.  
Chapters: 2?  
Status: Incomplete  
Year Completed: Incomplete

Free me before I slip away  
Heal me, wake me from this day  
Can somebody help me  
Somebody help me

Now I'm not a hero, no  
With the weight of the world on my soul  
These images burn in my eyes  
They're burning me up inside  
- Full Blown Rose "Somebody Help Me"

Sailor Moon raced to the fight scene and saw as Mars was thrown aside by the latest youma as it slid along the ground towards Mercury. The blonde was almost disgusted when she saw that the creature was composed mostly of what looked like yet dirt. It's arms were dripping onto the ground as it edged towards the blue haired water senshi.

Gathering her courage, the blonde took a few steps before calling out, distracting the youma long enough for Mercury to hurriedly move away from it. She went through the motions and gave the same speech as always, giving Mars and Mercury time to prepare their attacks. She finished, striking her final pose as the area became filled with freeing mist and a bolt of red flame ripped through to strike the creature in the back.

"It's about time you showed up, Odango Atama! Attack now, Sailor Moon!" Mars called out as her attack caused the youma to screech in rage and pain. She watched as the blonde nodded and lifted her tiara from her brow. It wasn't until she saw the ball of light forming that she saw Nephrite standing behind the late senshi.

"Sailor Moon, move!" called out Mercury, but knew her words came too late as she saw her friend turn and freeze when she saw the ball coming straight at her, but what she didn't expect was for her friend to not call out in fright, or try to move out of the way. Fortunately, something that had come to be expected did happen. In a flutter of black and red fabric, the leader of the senshi was removed from the line of danger, and the creature that had been standing in front of her was destroyed by the blow.

"Kuso!" exclaimed the auburn haired shitennou as he watched the ashy remains of the youma disintegrate. "Where the hell could he have been hiding?"

"Maybe it's because he has more of a brain than you do," snapped Mars. "That or maybe it's because he wears black instead of that tacky gray thing you call a uniform."

Meanwhile, in the shadows, Tuxedo Kamen gently settled Sailor Moon on her feet, helping her make sure she had her balance by resting his hands on her arms. "Are you all right, Sailor Moon?" he asked.

The blonde nodded once and said, "As fine as expected, ne? I need to help my friends before Nephrite tries to hurt them."

"All right. Just give me a moment to distract him, and make sure you have your tiara ready," he told her.

Sailor Moon nodded as she looked down at the tiara which she still held in her hand. "Arigato," she murmured as she held the metal decoration in her hand, charging it as much as she could. She looked to him for a moment and asked. "After this… Don't leave… Onegai… I- They might want to talk after the battle, and I- I d-"

"I'll be here," he assured her as he withdrew a rose from his jacket. "You have my word."

Sailor Moon sighed and looked at him gratefully. "I'm ready."

"Watch for him to turn around towards me, then attack," he advised her before he jumped to a nearby tree limb. She looked up at him, and watched as he launched the rose towards the dark haired shitennou. "To attack a planet intent on draining the life energies of its innocent citizens. Tuxedo Kamen cannot allow this."

Nephrite heard the speech and laughed at the meager attempt made by the tuxedoed man. Her turned and formed another ball of energy in his hand. "I'm sure Beryl-sama will understand my having to use some of the energy to destroy you fools."

"I'm sure she won't have to," cried out Moon before hurling her tiara at Nephrite, willing it not to miss, only to be disappointed when he teleported out of it's way.

"So the moon brat did show up," the shitennou noted. "I thought that you would be off crying because of the little boy. That is what you do, isn't it? Cry for these miserable mortals that you fail to protect?"

Sailor Moon looked at him wide eyed. How could anyone, even a Dark Kingdom warrior, be so cruel? She was used to having people insinuate, and even call her a cry-baby, but to pick at the expense of the life that had been lost… "You- You bastard…" she cried out, wishing that she still had her tiara, only to be surprised a moment later when said weapon struck the man in the back, causing him to cry out in pain before teleporting away.

Tuxedo Kamen dropped from the limb and went to the young heroine as her fellow senshi slowly walked over to the girl. He'd watched her as Nephrite's words cut into her, and grew worried when she insulted the general. He had never heard such a word escape her mouth, even in battle. "Sailor Moon…" he started, but was completely unsure of what to say. Once again, the way to console the young girl escaped him. Him. The one who always had the right words to say during battle.

Fortunately, though whose fortune he wasn't sure, Sailor Mercury spoke. "U- Sailor Moon, what was Nephrite talking about when he said those words before he left? Did they have something to do with the battle earlier today?"

Tuxedo Kamen wanted to reprimand the ice senshi for her choice of words, but knew that she didn't know what had taken place during the earlier battle. He laid a gentle, supporting hand on the young blonde's arm, letting her know that if she needed, she could draw what strength she needed from him.

"Hey, get away from her!" snapped Mars. Luna had warned each of them too many times about trusting the masked man, and considering Usagi's present behavior, she didn't want him influencing her.

"No, Rei-chan," said Sailor Moon. "I asked for him to be here, should you ask about what happened…"

"Sailor Moon, are you sure it is wise to have said Mars' name in front of him?" questioned Mercury as she motioned to Tuxedo Kamen.

"He knows who I am, and it won't be long before he would have put the pieces together and figured out who we all are," Moon replied with a sigh.

Before she could continue, Mars stepped closer and whispered harshly, "How could you do something like that? We don't know if he is really our ally or not. What if he's an enemy who is going to use-"

"He's not. I just know it, and now, please. I have something that I need to tell you," she said, her tone telling them that no interruptions would be allowed. "During the battle which took place earlier today… Well, you knew that it was at a school, but I doubt that you've heard what had taken place exactly. Rei-chan, you should know that you were right all alon-"

"Usagi-chan, don't do that to yourself," Tuxedo Kamen pleaded.

Seeing her chance, Mars' curiosity got the better of her and she asked, "What was I right about, Sailor Moon?"

"You were right that one day, my ineptitude as a senshi would get someone killed…" the blonde trailed as she forced herself not to cry. She would not allow herself the luxury of such emotional release until she'd told them everything, and so she continued. She told them everything that had happened in almost the exact words she had spoken to Mamoru. All the while, the images were running through her mind as she relived the tragedy.

Tuxedo Kamen could feel her trembling, and wished for nothing more than some way to take away the girl's pain. He could feel through the link they shared the pain she was going through.

"Oh… Usagi-chan…" whispered Mars quietly. "I-Is that why you ran from us earlier? You were worried that we wouldn't understand?"

The blonde leader looked down. "It-It's not that… It's that, I didn't think that you would forgive me for… I failed. S-Someone died because I couldn't keep them safe. I had to run from the enemy just once for someone to lose their life. I had to be stupid enough not to notice that boy…"

Wordlessly, before Tuxedo Kamen could make a move, Sailor Mercury took a few steps forward to wrap her arms around the senshi of the moon in a comforting hug, causing the repressed sobs to rise up in the girl's throat.

Mars looked over to the masked man with questioning eyes. "Did you…"

He simply nodded and looked to the blonde before going over to talk to the red clad warrior to speak quietly. "She told me before the battle. She was…" He wasn't sure aside from beating herself up using the very words she had heard from the senshi of fire. "Perhaps you should hold your tongue for a little while. Your words cut her deeper than you know, especially right now."

"And how would you know that? I say what I do to try and get her to be a better senshi," snapped the dark haired teen. "It was that sort of accident I was trying to prevent by-"

"By pointing out how you think her worthless as a senshi. I have heard what you say to her during battle. The way you speak to the girl who is supposed to be your leader is… The Dark Kingdom could one day use your arguments as an opportunity to strike against both of you. Is that what you wish. If you wanted her to be better, then you find a way to hel-"

"And how do you think you're helping? By showing up, moving her out of the way so that her she doesn't get used to having to move out of the way when there is an-"

"Stop it!" snapped the usually calm senshi of Mercury as she turned away from her friend for a moment to glare at the two. "Sailor Moon does not need to hear you two arguing. I understand that you are both worried about her, but turning on each other is not the correct action to be taking right now."

While Mars lowered her head in shame, Tuxedo Kamen looked towards the blonde and watched as she allowed her henshin to fade before turning and quietly walking away, after mouthing, "Arigato."

He then noticed that Mercury was looking at him as though expecting and answer. "Excuse me. Did you ask something?"

Mercury nodded and answered, "I did. I was wondering how you knew who we were? You said that you had talked to Sailor Moon before the battle, but how did you know who she was?"

Tuxedo Kamen nodded, understanding the reason why she had asked. "I did not know who she was when I asked what had happened, nor did she know who I was. She chose to divulge her identity to me when I asked her as to why her demeanor had changed so much. From there I pieced together who the two of you were."

"Then you mind telling us who you are?" Mars inquired as she placed her hands on her hips and eyed him suspiciously. She didn't trust him, and the fact that he knew their identities unnerved her. "It is only fair."

"Whoever said that I was going to be fair about this," he replied before tipping his hat to the two girls and leaping into the shadows of the trees. Hopefully, he'd bought Usagi enough time to get away from the other senshi, without getting too far. He followed the instincts that usually led him to the young girl, hoping that it worked when she wasn't transformed, which much to his good fortune, it did. He made sure to revert back to his normal clothing before quickly walking up behind her.

Usagi looked up at him for a moment before lowering her gaze to the ground. "Why are you being so nice? Why aren't you mak-"

"Because I may be a jerk at times," he said and laughed softly when she shot him a look. "All right, whenever we talk, I am usually picking on you, but I'm not going to go so low. I'd never do that. No one deserves that sort of treatment, and especially not someone your age, with as much responsibility as what you bear on your shoulders. The fact that you've been doing it this long amazes me."

Usagi looked up at him with a grateful, albeit, small smile. "Arigato," she whispered with a soft sniffle. "You've got to be thinking that I'm a really big cry-baby by now, aren't you?" she asked, but was surprised when he didn't answer, wrapping an arm around her shoulder instead.

Mamoru looked down at her and said, "No. You're just dealing with what happened today in the only way that you know how. People cope with tragedies in different manners. While others would choose to bottle everything up, you choose to feel."

The blonde nodded in understanding only to be taken surprised when she felt Mamoru stop. She looked up at him and then to what they were standing in front of. "Why are we in front of the arcade? It's about to close."

"I told Motoki that I would let him know when you were safely found, but since there was an attack, I didn't get a chance, so I thought that he should see you in person. That and I need to get my car. I left it here when everyone was trying to find you, since I didn't think that you would go far from the arcade."

"Oh," she said simply as she was led into the building.

"Oi, Motoki-kun," called out Mamoru as he looked around for his friend. A moment later, Motoki's head stuck out of the door of the back room with an alarmed look on his face, which was quickly replaced with a look of relief when he noticed the petite girl by Mamoru's side.

"Kami, Usagi-chan, you had me so worried when you disappeared," exclaimed Motoki as he walked from the room over to the girl. "Where were you?"

"The park. There was an attack that held us up," Mamoru quickly explained. "Fortunately, Sailor Moon was there and took care of everything."

Motoki nodded. "Anyways, I'm just glad that you found Usagi-chan. Is there anything that either of you want? On the house." He looked at the two, and was slightly surprised when he heard a soft muttering coming from the blonde as she shook her head.

"Usagi-chan, daijobu?" questioned the fair haired arcade manager.

"I'm ok, Motoki-kun," she replied. "Just still not feeling one hundred percent since earlier."

"Motoki-kun, I think I'm just going to drive her home before heading back to my apartment, but real quick, do you have a piece of paper," Mamoru asked.

"Paper, paper," said Motoki as he looked around. "I've not got any loose sheets of paper, but I do have napkins. Will that work?"

"Yeah, that's good," Mamoru quickly answered. "Anyways, I'm going to go ahead and take Usagi home. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ja ne, Mamoru-kun. Feel better, Usagi-chan," Motoki called as the two walked out of the arcade.

As the two walked out to the nearby parking structure, a thought came to Mamoru and he looked at the girl. "Are your parents going to be okay with you coming in this late?" he asked.

Usagi blinked. "Um… I think so. I mean my mom has kicked me out until about this time when I didn't do good on a test, and I'm not usually getting back from senshi meetings or study sessions until about this time, anyways, so they should be fine."

Mamoru nodded and stopped when they got to a red sports car. Usagi couldn't tell what kinda it was since the lot, though lit up, was still relatively dim. She blinked when she started wondering about how Mamoru could afford the car, but decided that it was none of her business. When the door opened from the inside, she jumped about and inch, but felt her heart calm down when Mamoru told her to climb in.

As she climbed in, Mamoru turned on the over head light and quickly jotted something down on the napkin Motoki had given him. When he was done, Mamoru handed the paper to her. "Here, this is my number in case you ever need to talk. Don't worry about what time it is, just feel free."

"A-Arigato, Mamoru-san…" she said as she took the paper and placed it in the pocket of her jacket before buckling her seatbelt. "Question… How do you know where I live?"

Mamoru laughed and shook his head. "I hadn't thought of that. I know the general direction that you come from whenever you ram into me in the morning, but I'm guessing that you are going to have to show me the exact location aren't you?"

"I thought that you weren't going to pick on me anymore," Usagi said, in an almost offended tone.

Mamoru smiled when he heard those words. "I apologize. Old habits di- are hard to break at times. Besides, I like arguing with it. It's something fun before classes."

"For you maybe. I'm the one getting most of the insults," she retorted.

"All right, you have my word that I will try to stop myself from picking on you," he promised as he started the engine and pulled out of his spot. "Now, if you don't mind telling me, where do you live?"

Usagi smiled, not even completely registering the expression. She then went about telling him how to get to her street and which house she lived in. She watched as he noted everything, blinking every so often in a manner that resembled the light on Ami's mini-computer. His eyes would move around a bit before blinking and returning to their normal positions. At least that was how it looked. She couldn't see his left eye very well since there was a piece of hair hanging in front of it that she was itching to push out of the way.

After he pulled out onto the highway, the two sat in silence for a while, which was strangely comfortable, but after a while needed to be broken. "So, Usagi-chan, why don't you tell me about yourself. I mean, I think I've found out your biggest secret, but there's got to be more to you than being Sailor Moon."

"Well, aside from the fact that I've got a little brother, and that I'm in middle school, there's not much. A few friends, no boyfriend, and bad grades," she said with a shrug.

"Now there has to be more to you than that," he said. "What about that hairstyle? I mean, is there some reason that you always wear it in the same style?"

Usagi blinked in reaction to what he asked. "I don't know… I mean, I've work it like this ever since I was a kid. Considering how long my hair is, it's a real lifesaver. I've just never really liked the idea of getting it cut, so… I guess that's it."

Mamoru looked at her for a moment while they stopped at a red light and cocked his head to the side. "Strangely enough, I can't seem to imagine you with a different hairstyle," he admitted. "Maybe odangos suit you."

Usagi shook her head. "How come I'm not sure if I am being insulted, or if I am just being told something odd?"

"Because weird comments are seeming to make you smile," he replied. "At least what's been making you smile seems weird for me to be saying. Besides, despite how much I tease you, I don't ever want to see you in tears. I hate it when y-girls cry. Call me a typical male, but it makes me excruciatingly uncomfortable."

Usagi raised an eyebrow and almost laughed at his words. "You? Uncomfortable? Here I thought you could stand anything. I mean you were that horrible green jacket enough, and that thing is enough to send anyone screaming at the idea of wearing it."

"I like my jacket," he said and sweat dropped when she stuck her tongue out at him. "Very mature, Odango."

"Hey, you said that you weren't going to make fun of me anymore," Usagi pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"For one, I only said that I would try to not make fun of you, and two, you were the one who was making fun of the jacket."

"Whatever," she said before she noticed that they had turned onto her street. "Um… My house is the one coming up on the right."

Mamoru nodded and pulled up in front of the yellow and blue house. He watched as she slowly unbuckled her seatbelt and looked at the house with a quiet sigh. She moved to open the door as he said, "Hey, you're going to be ok. Just remember what I told you to do in case you ever needed to talk."

Usagi nodded. "I will. Thank you, Mamoru-san, for- for everything."

Mamoru watched her climb out of the car, and as she walked up to her house, hoping that she really would be all right. Once she was inside, he pulled back out onto the road and headed towards his apartment.

There's chapter two. I hope that it wasn't too slow. It just takes a while for me to think of something to follow a chapter that I liked as much as the first one, but I wanted end this story with a bit of a happy note, which it will.

Anyways, onto the thanks.

SalrAnime - Thank you so much for saying that. I'd not seen many fics out there where Usagi came face to face with the death of an innocent, so I figure I'd try my hand at it. That and the song mentioned at the beginning of the first chapter just struck me, putting me in the mood to write a fic.

Red-Rose18 - Glad to think that you don't mind the dark. - I hope you enjoyed chapter two.

Midnight - Here's more, just like you asked.

SilverLunarStar - Your question has been answered. Chapter three will be out as soon as possible.

Anyways, I'll try to have chapter three out sometime before Wednesday, though I've never been good with deadlines.


	3. DNA

Title: Sanctuary  
Author: Maetel  
Email: URL: N/A  
Rating: M 15+  
Summary: When Sailor Moon witnesses the death of an innocent, Usagi ends up turning to Mamoru in her darkest hour. Minor alterations have been made on the timeline so that Mamoru knows who he is, while Nephrite is around.  
Chapters: 3?  
Status: Incomplete  
Year Completed: Incomplete

A dirtied dream, before it rotted I heard your voice  
The overlapping winds, the whisper I heard was only your voice  
In the shadows of clouds in the declining sky I found it now Your Song  
In the growing darkness, all I can hear is your voice  
Zwei - DNA

Mamoru tossed and turned in his bed, his entire body covered in a thin layer of sweat. Once more, strange dreams of his unreachable princess plagued his sleep, but this time, the dreams were different.

Instead of her being silhouetted by the moon, and asking for the ginzuishou, his princess' face was obscured by smoke, as she knelt over, sobbing, for an unmoving form with dark hair and wearing dark armor. Mamoru tried to move, but found himself frozen, forced to watch as the events transpired right before his eyes. He watched as the girl he dreamed about reach out a shaky hand to the hilt of the sword that lay fallen by the man's side. His eyes looked around to see a reason as to why she might need a sword until it hit him.

"No!" he shouted. "Princess, don't do it! Stop!"

His cries stopped when he saw her plunge the blade through her chest, and out her back. Unnoticed tears began to fall as he watched her fall forward onto the body of who he could only believe to be her love. He then heard a shrill cry, and saw a brilliant flash of light, which forced him out of his world of dreams, with two words left to haunt him: "I'm sorry…"

Mamoru shot up into a sitting position, breathing harshly, trying to figure out what he'd just seen. What could have set off his dreams to change so dramatically? Only one thing came to mind.

"Usagi wouldn't… It's just my worry getting to me and affecting my dreams, but why that one?" Mamoru tried to think things out, but he wound up falling back onto his pillow with a groan.

The dark haired young man got out of bed after a while and walked out onto the balcony. He looked out over the city as it twinkled in place of the sky that the bright lights did away with. His thoughts floated to the girl who had been through so much in the past twenty four hours, and wondered how she was faring this first night. Part of him wanted to go to her house and make sure that she was all right, but the logical side of him said that if she needed him, she would call.

"But she might have lost the number," Mamoru reasoned. "I've-" His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the all too familiar pull of Sailor Moon's transformation causing his own powers to awaken, clothing him in the tuxedo that he felt more comfortable in than most of his own clothing with exception of the footwear. With a tired sigh, he leapt from the balcony to the rooftop of a nearby building, heading towards the girl.

As he neared the origin of what he was feeling, he noticed that he was in the general vicinity of Usagi's home, and getting ever closer to said residence. When he finally found the young heroine, he saw that she was sitting on the roof, clutching to the black cat that he knew had to be Luna. He leapt to her home, and landed quietly behind her. He blinked when he heard the cat hiss at him in an almost ferocious manner.

"Luna, quiet," he heard the blonde say quietly to the feline before turning to look at him. "I- I'm sorry for… well… calling you like this, but…" She sighed heavily as she put the cat on the shingled roof. She stood straight once again, but kept her gaze lowered as she spoke. "You probably think I'm just being really immature, but you are the only person I could ask to be here when I told the final person about what had happened."

Tuxedo Kamen shook his head as he lifted her head to look at him. "No, I understand, but who else is there to tell? I thought the senshi were the only ones who knew who you-" It was then that everything she had told him throughout the evening sunk in. "The cat," he sighed as he looked down at the night colored feline that was currently glaring up at him with an all too human gaze.

The blonde nodded and looked down at Luna. "It's all right Luna. He knows that you can talk. I told him."

"Sailor Moon, how could you do something that irresponsible?" reprimanded the cat. "Why did you do it? You cannot be sure whether or not he is the enemy. How could let him track you to this loc-"

"I think I understand all the more why you needed support to tell her," Tuxedo Kamen interrupted as he looked to the blonde, whose head was, earning a stern look from Luna. "Be quiet now, Luna, Sailor Moon has something that she needs to tell you, and I suggest you not interrupt her. Is that clear?"

The cat was taken aback by the tone that the masked man had used. Never had she heard one speak to her in such a manner. Despite how much she wanted to snap back, something in the back of her mind, like some training long forgotten, forced her to hold her tongue, and instead say, "You have my word that I will not utter a thing while she speaks."

Sailor Moon gazed up at him with a purely curious look. She couldn't even get Luna to do that. Shaking her head, she muttered a soft word of thanks to him before kneeling down in front of Luna, to retell the events that had taken place. She paused for a moment as she retold how she had revisited the scene, and looked back to the masked man and remembered his words. She took a deep breath before she turned her attention back to the cat before her.

Tuxedo Kamen noted how it seemed easier for her to tell what had happened this time, though it was obvious that she still blamed herself for what had happened by the sound of her voice, though her choice of words had changed. He also noticed how she had left out the part about who he was, or how he had been the one to find her in the park.

Luna looked shocked by the words that her young charge had spoken, but now knew why she had woken up only a while before and clutched so tightly to her. "Usagi-chan… I-" The black feline wasn't sure what to say. Nothing seemed adequate. She'd been given enough information to awaken and tell the senshi their mission, but never had she considered the idea of having to console any of them after the death of someone. Especially one as sensitive as the blonde she'd first awoken.

Sighing, Luna looked to the masked man standing behind the young heroine. "Might I ask, how you know of what happened? According to what Usagi-chan has told me, you were not there, and yet, you know what has taken place."

"I…" Tuxedo Kamen tried to think of some way to answer the cat's question without giving away who he was at least partially. He didn't know if the cat knew when her charge henshined. "I felt her distress, just as I feel when she is in danger when she is fighting. I'm not sure how it works, but… It's just been there for as long as I can remember being Tuxedo Kamen."

Luna looked at him curiously, considering his words. "You can feel what Sailor Moon feels? Or at least when she is in danger?"

"I can feel what she does when she fights and if the emotions are extreme enough, such as earlier, when she is in what I suppose would be civilian wear," he said, attempting to make some excuse so that he wouldn't have to reveal himself.

"Then do you usually feel a great deal of pain coming from her side of your, well, bond, or annoyance? I ask since I want to see just how extreme the emotions have to be," Luna said, not noticing the look of alarm forming on the blonde's face at her words.

Tuxedo Kamen looked minorly confused by the cat's words. "No… Why? Should I?" he asked looking towards the blonde who looked as though she were about to gag the cat.

"Luna, I am sure that he doesn't want to hear about that. We know that he can feel what I am feeling if the emotion is extreme enough. Can't we end it at that?" the girl pleaded tiredly, leaving the cape wearing guardian slightly confused as to what the two were talking about.

"Usagi-chan, what is she talking about? Has something else been bothering you?" he asked, concern evident in both his voice, and his body language. "You know that you can tell me."

Two blonde pigtails moved from side to side as she shook her head in response. "It's nothing. It's stopped now, so there's nothing left to worry about."

Luna watched the two. She wondered why the girl didn't want him to learn about how much she felt when concerning Mamoru. It would have been an interesting experiment in learning about this newly revealed link between the two. Revealing the arguments between the blonde and her arch-rival wouldn't be giving away her identity since he already knew. Shaking her head, she sighed and looked at the blonde. "Usagi-chan… Perhaps you should come inside and try to sleep a little bit more. Tomorrow may be the weekend, but that doesn't mean you should rest."

"Hai, Luna," Sailor Moon said. "I'll come inside soon. Go on to bed."

Luna studied the two, her eyes suspiciously studying the dark figure, before she sighed and nodded. "All right, just don't stay outside too long," said the cat before she walked to the ledge of the roof and hopped onto the balcony that led to Usagi's room.

The blonde then allowed her henshin to fade, as she turned away from Tuxedo Kamen, her blonde odango fading, revealing long waves of shining hair which almost completely concealed the pink and white bunny pajamas she was wearing. "I- I'm sorry for Luna. She's just very curious when it comes to certain abilities of ours. You should have heard her when she noticed that Rei had been able to use her abilities before she was ever given the henshin wand," she said, her tone nervous, as she rambled on unconsciously. "The fact that you told her that you were somehow linked to me just must have set her off. I hope she kno-"

"Usagi-chan, calm down," he told her as he lifted a gloved hand to her lips to quiet the blonde. "I don't mind Luna asking questions. She actually made me want to ask a few myself."

"Really?" replied the blonde with a look that was both curious and worried at once.

He nodded, wondering what had made her so… He inwardly told himself that it was probably just getting over having to retell everything. "I was wondering why she asked if I felt emotions of annoyance and pain? Well, mostly pain since I can guess where the annoyance comes from," he told her with a little smirk.

"She probably means whenever I feel everything finally getting to me, like when Rei chooses to yell at me after a battle, or at a meeting, or at the arcade, or o- I'm guessing that you get the picture," the blonde said hurriedly, as if she were giving an answer that made her seem to be paying attention in class.

"Usagi-chan… You're not being completely honest," he told her softly, to try and keep from making her feel insulted. "Seriously. What was Luna talking about?"

Usagi looked down and sighed heavily. "You. There were times when… I'd be having a bad day at school, or Rei would choose to let loose because I'd messed up during a battle, and then when you picked on me… I couldn't help it, and Luna would be the one who'd see it. That was what she was talking about. I didn't want you to know. Especially after the talk that we had when you drove me home."

Hearing those words, Mamoru could have kicked himself. He never believed Motoki when he kept saying that he himself was being too harsh on the girl. Shaking his head at his own behavior, the masked man then reached out and gently grasped her chin with a gloved hand, lifting her head so that she could look into his eyes. "Usagi-chan, I apologize for all of the taunting. I didn't know that I was hurting you like that. I just enjoyed seeing the look in your eyes whenever you were aggravated."

"What look? Complete annoyance?" she remarked with a raised eyebrow as she sat down, shivering lightly at the coldness.

He laughed quietly and nodded, as he sat down beside the blonde. The shoes he wore with the tux may have looked nice, but they hurt after a while. "I suppose that's one way to put it. It's just… It's like a fire inside of you that comes to life when you are angry. It just… I'm not sure how to describe it."

"I'm not sure if I should call you a jerk for just admitting that you like seeing me angry or not," Usagi admitted after a moment. "I suppose weird will do. It seems to fit right now since you're still wearing the tux, not that I mind of course, but it's just… Why are you still wearing that?"

"I doubt you want to see me in what I sleep in, so I've just decided to stay like this for now," he told her, noticing the face she made when he told her what he'd been wearing.

"You were sleeping?" she asked, her tone apologetic, he face slightly red in embarrassment. "Sorry for waking you up."

"You didn't wake me up," he replied. "A dream did, so don't apologize for something you didn't do."

"A dream woke you up? And here I thought it would have been the coffee that kept you up," she joked as she lightly poked him on the arm. "What sort of dream was it?"

"It- It was nothing for you to worry about. Besides, what were you doing awake. From the way Luna sounded, it seemed as though you'd been sleeping before you henshined."

Usagi sighed and looked at him. "You noticed that, huh? Well, you weren't the only out woken up by a dream… That was the main reason why I needed to tell Luna tonight. She just… I kinda wound up flinging her across the room when I woke up, and I couldn't tell her when I'd just woken up, so I did the only thing I could think of, and well, you know how that turned out."

Tuxedo Kamen nodded. "Mind telling me what the dream was about?" he asked her gently. "Just to get it off of your chest."

Usagi looked at him for a moment, considering telling him. He'd been so kind, despite the odd crack about something that he would make every so often. He was the first one she told about what had happened, and he did tell her that he was Tuxedo Kamen.

Sighing, she looked away from him and out over her neighborhood before starting. "I… I dreamed about what happened, but instead of the youma having killed the little boy… I did, and… I- In my dream… I enjoyed it. I… I enjoyed it as much as I do when I defeat a youma. It was that feeling that woke me up. I-I don't…"

Tuxedo Kamen turned and wrapped his arms around the girl as tears began to fall from her eyes. He wished that there was some way he could make her feel better about herself, but such was the grieving process for her he supposed. He heard her muttering softly, and whispered softly to her, trying to calm the girl down. "Usagi-chan, what happened, it wasn't your fault. You didn't hurt that boy, and I know by simply watching you, talking to you, that you didn't, nor could you have enjoyed hurting him. You are too kind of a person, too pure hearted. Nothing could make you feel that way."

Just as the blonde looked up at him with tear stained cheeks, a deep rumbling laughter came from behind them. The two turned and saw the dark haired general Nephrite floating in the air behind them.

"Stay behind me," Tuxedo Kamen told Usagi as they both shot to their feet. He wasn't going to risk saying her name in front of the general, and possibly putting her in even more danger than what she was already in.

"To think, I watched you, Tuxedo Kamen, what happens, you lead me straight to Sailor Moon, and might I say, what a pathetic little speech. I'm sure that the Dark Kingdom could make enjoy taking life, but then, why would we waste our time training a warrior so useless, when she could simply be destroyed in the amount of time it takes for me to give this little taunt," mocked Nephrite as he unleashed the ball of dark energy he'd been forming behind his back as he spoke.

Before the energy struck, Tuxedo Kamen had grabbed the girl and leapt from the roof to the ground below. He looked down at her, and softly ordered, "Henshin, now. I'll keep him distracted."

Usagi nodded and watched as he jumped back up to the roof to face the Dark Kingdom agent. Taking a deep breath, Usagi called out her henshin phrase and felt as the energy wash over her for the third time that night. Once her transformation was complete, she noticed that lights were coming on in her house.

"Oh no… I've gotta get Nephrite away from the house…" she murmured before looking up to the general who was currently locked in battle with Tuxedo Kamen. She leapt to the roof of her home and quickly struck her pose. "Oi, Nephrite! If you want me, then you are going to have to catch me first!" she called out mockingly before jumping up, making sure to step on the top of Nephrite's head before landing on the ground below.

Nephrite moved away from his battle with the masked man before he started to chase after the blonde. He growled as she managed to keep a good foot between herself and him, and he decided to stop the chase before he wasted anymore energy. Teleporting in front of her, he glared down at the young heroine.

Sailor Moon looked up nervously, hoping that she had gotten him away from her house before he'd seen any of her family inside. In an attempt to hide how she was really feeling, Usagi went for the option she'd depended on so much. "It's pathetic how someone so powerful has to track a young man in order to find a blonde girl in Japan. I am Sailor Moon. I fight for love and justice. Tsukini kawatte, oshiokyo!" (AN: I realize I probably spelled the last word wrong, but I've never been real sure how to spell it.)

Nephrite scowled at the girl and was preparing to attack when a red rose, pierced the material of his jacket, and almost his chest. He looked over to see Tuxedo Kamen standing on a lamp post, with three more roses in hand. "Attacking a house filled with innocent people just to strike at one person. Tuxedo Kamen will not forgive this."

While Nephrite was distracted, Sailor Moon lifted her tiara from her brow and charged it before launching it and calling out, "Moon Tiara Stardust!" She knew that he would move before the tiara would hit, so instead she surprised him when the tiara released multiple balls of light which struck out at the general. She winced slightly when she heard him roar in pain and anger at being surprised by the attack.

"You will pay for that, Sailor Moon," threatened Nephrite as a shadow formed on the ground behind the blonde. Before either she or Tuxedo Kamen, a pair of hands moved out of the ground and grasped the blonde's ankles and pulled her feet out from under her.

The minute he saw her fall, the masked fighter hurled the roses in his hand at the shadow, one striking each hand and the third sinking into the shadow, from which a harsh shriek erupted, followed by the rose and then its source: a horrendously beautiful creature with dark eyes, ice blue lips, and pale pink skin. It was completely covered by vines that seemed to writhe thought the youma itself wasn't moving.

Sailor Moon turned to look behind her at the creature and swallowed loudly. She quickly started to scurry away, but was soon gathered up in the arms of her dark haired protector.

"Are you all right, Sailor Moon?" he asked.

The blonde nodded and glared down at the remaining enemy. She guessed that Nephrite had left while the youma had tripped her. "I'm just tired right now," she said as she moved to once again pull her tiara from her head, only to remember that she hadn't had the chance to replace it when it had returned after attacking Nephrite. "My tiara…" She looked where she had just been, and saw the golden band resting on the ground two or so feet behind the youma.

"Stay here, I'll go get it," Tuxedo Kamen told her only to have a hand placed on his arm before he had a chance to jump down.

"No," Sailor Moon said simply as she held her hand out before her and her nose wrinkled in concentration. A moment later, the tiara disappeared from where it had been resting and dropped into her hand. "I knew that there was something that made the tiara come back every time, she said. "Now, to take care of that thing…" She charged the tiara, and cried out the first attack she had ever used.

Sailor Moon willed her tiara to return to her hand once the youma had been destroyed, and almost fell to her knees, but instead fell back against Tuxedo Kamen. Three attacks in one day combined with the want to sleep were finally kicking in. "So tired…" she muttered.

"Good work, Usagi-chan," he told her as he carefully picked her up. "Don't worry. You can rest now. I'll take you home, and-"

"Will you stay with me for a while?" she asked with a yawn as she rested her head on his chest, just above his heart.

Tuxedo Kamen looked down at her, and knew that he should say no, but couldn't bring himself to speak the word. "I'll stay as long as I can," he told her. "Is that all right?"

"Arigato," she mumbled, already half asleep, as her henshin faded.

Tuxedo Kamen smiled softly at the sleeping girl in his arms and headed back towards her home.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Many thanks to those who critiqued and/or commented on the fic. Much love to those out there reading this!


	4. Real Emotion

Title: Sanctuary  
Author: Maetel  
Email:  
URL: N/A  
Rating: M 15+  
Summary: When Sailor Moon witnesses the death of an innocent, Usagi ends up turning to Mamoru in her darkest hour. Minor alterations have been made on the timeline so that Mamoru knows who he is, while Nephrite is around.  
Chapters: 4?  
Status: Incomplete  
Year Completed: Incomplete

_I remember everything you said that night  
In your loneliness, your heart was with me  
And I know you were confused, I felt your fright  
But you held my hand, and stood so bravely _

_- **Kristine Sa's Version of Real Emotion**_

As Tuxedo Kamen returned to the blonde's house, he saw that who he could only suspect to be her mother and father were running out of the house, calling out their daughter's name. He looked down at the slumbering blonde in his arms and sighed. "No wonder you lead Nephrite away from the house," he murmured quietly, so not to disturb her. He quietly leapt down behind the woman with long blue hair that looked quite disheveled, and cleared his throat.

"Excuse me," he said causing her to turn around.

Ikuko turned and gasped when she saw her baby resting in the masked man's arms, though she wasn't sure if the girl was unconscious, or had simply fallen asleep. "Usagi-chan!" she exclaimed softly. "Is-Is she all right? What happened to her?"

"I'm sorry to say that a creature from the Dark Kingdom was following her, and had attempted to attack her," he informed the worried woman. "Sailor Moon managed to take care of the creature, but on the way back, you're daughter happened to have fallen asleep.

Ikuko laughed softly, both at the humor of what he had just described, and out of relief, though worry was still evident on her face. "Mi-Might I ask why she was being attacked?"

Tuxedo Kamen looked down at the blonde in his arms before returning his gaze to the older woman who watched him curiously as the man he guessed to be Usagi's father walked up behind her.

"Ikuko-chan, who is- What are you doing with my daughter!" he exclaimed as he saw his daughter in the arms of the masked man.

"Kenji-chan, calm down. He was just about to tell before you walked up," Ikuko said, as she placed a comforting hand on her husband's arm. "It seems she was targeted by something that the Sailor Senshi fight."

Tuxedo Kamen nodded and said, "We've been keeping track of her since she witnessed an attack earlier today. They attacked a short while ago, and she ran from the house to make sure that none of you were put into any danger. Once Sailor Moon defeated the creature, she was exhausted, and I volunteered to bring her back home."

Ikuko nodded and smiled gently. "Thank you for taking care of her. You certainly have explained something that I had been wondering about since Usagi-chan came home earlier.

"Ikuko-chan, are you sure that it is wise to tell him our daughter's name? How can we be sure that he isn't what attacked her? I've never heard of any one else fighting aside from the Sailor Sen-"

"That is because I've only appeared when absolutely necessary, and leave once I am assured that Sailor Moon is safe. I choose to remain a background player, in which no one is ever quite sure of," he explained. "Besides, I already knew your daughter's name. I tell you this in the strictest confidence, but I know her when I am not wearing the mask, from day to day life."

Ikuko looked at him curiously before her attention was drawn to her gradually awakening daughter as she muttered softly, "Everyone's too loud…"

"Sorry, sweetie," said Ikuko as she noticed her daughter opening her eyes and looking right at her. "We'll let you sleep once you are back inside."

"Okay, okaa-san," Usagi muttered as she noticed her father standing behind her mother. "Hi, 'tou-san." She then allowed herself to try and go back to sleep, until she realized who she'd just spoken to, and what position she was in. "Oh, no…"

"It's all right, sweetheart. This young man explained everything, so don't worry about being in trouble. I'm very proud of the fact that you made sure to get away from the house so that we wouldn't be in danger, but you should have been more careful. What do you think would have happened if Sailor Moon and-" She looked to Tuxedo Kamen, unsure of what to call him. "This young man hadn't been there? You could have been injured or worse."

"Gomen nasai, okaa-san," Usagi said as she lowered her gaze.

"It's all right, Usagi-chan," her father told her. "Now," he looked up to Tuxedo Kamen. "What are we going to do if something else comes to attack her? Is there anyway that we can get one of the senshi to come and stay with her?"

"The senshi exhausted themselves in battles that took place earlier today. Their attacks drain them greatly, and they need to rest. They-"

"Do you mean like the attack that took place at a school earlier today?" questioned Shingo as he stuck his head in between his parents. "I hear that someone got hur-"

Tuxedo raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat. "Should you be asleep by now, young man?"

"Who can sleep when their sister sneaks out late at-" retorted Shingo as he finally noticed that his sister was in the arms of the man before them. "Whoa, what happened to her?"

"Nothing, she's just tired, Shingo. Now go back inside and go to sleep," Ikuko told her overly excitable son before looking to her daughter and Tuxedo Kamen. "Since the senshi are too exhausted, would you mind making sure that our little girl is protected tonight. I'd just hate the idea of her being attacked."

"If that was all right with Usagi-chan herself, then I believe I could," Tuxedo Kamen replied as he looked down to the blonde in question. "Would it be all right with you?"

Usagi nodded slowly and smiled. "I would be honored to have one of the defenders of our city guarding me tonight."

"He stays on the roof!" exclaimed Kenji before Ikuko shot him a warning glance. "Fine, but I do not want him touching my daughter unless it is absolutely necessary."

Shingo, who had stayed despite his mothers order, raised an eyebrow at his father's words. "Why would anyone want to touch Odango Atama? She'd probably pass on the klutz curse or something!"

Usagi glared at her little brother, willing him to shut up, but before she could snap at him, she heard Tuxedo Kamen start. "You seem like a smart young man, and yet you talk so harshly about someone who saved your life this very night. Your sister risked her life in drawing the creature that attacked away from your home. If I were you, I'd be thanking her instead of insulting her."

Shingo blinked and nodded. Normally, he had heard others insult his sister. He had picked up the name Odango Atama from some guy who seemed to know his sister, but if one of the people who saved Tokyo was insisting that he shouldn't be insulting his sister, then who was he to argue. Besides, he could always argue with her later.

Ikuko looked to the two male members of her family and then to Tuxedo Kamen. "I suggest we get inside. No need for Usagi or Shingo to be getting sick, and you need to rest," she said looking at her husband before once again returning her attention to the young man holding her daughter. "Could you take Usagi-chan up to her room? It's the first door on the left. You'll be able to tell it's hers when you see it."

"Arigato, Tsukino-san, for trusting me, and allowing me to take care of your daughter," Tuxedo Kamen said with a respectful bow.

Ikuko shook her head. "Don't. Just make sure that she's all right." She then turned and ushered her husband and son into the house, followed by Tuxedo Kamen.

Usagi remained silent until they reached her room and made sure that the door was closed behind them. "Thank you," she said. "I had no idea what I was going to tell my family. I hate lying to them."

Tuxedo Kamen nodded. "I think I understand. I've hated lying to everyone who I have ever had to reschedule something with, or whoever I was supposed to meet for a study session."

"So you've never had to tell your parents ab-" She stopped when she noticed the pained look on his face behind the mask he wore. "What's- What's wrong? Was it something I said?"

He shook his head. "No… It's all right."

She looked down quietly before a scratching at Usagi's door broke her out of her thoughts. "I should noticed that Luna wasn't in here."

"You go lie down, and I'll let Luna in," said Tuxedo Kamen as he set the blonde on her feet. He watched as she shuffled over to the bed with the blue comforter with moon designs on it. She climbed into the bed and nodded, signaling to him to let Luna into the room.

"Usagi-chan, are you all right? I heard about what happened by listening to your parents downstairs," said Luna. "But somehow I doubt that it was a simple youma that attacked."

"I am fine, and it wasn't, Luna. It was one of the Dark Kingdom Shitennou. He… I had to get him out of here, so I led him away from the house. When I managed to land an attack on him, he then sent a youma after me."

Luna looked horrified before hopping onto the bed and acted more like a feline than Tuxedo Kamen had ever seen of the black cat as she gently nuzzled the girl's arm. "As long as you are all right. The girls wanted to hold a senshi meeting tomorrow, but perhaps it would be best if you stayed home tomorrow and rested. You deserve it after all that-"

"No, Luna. I don't want any sort of pity. I just… I just want to go on like normal. I'll be fine. I just… If the girls want to hold a senshi meeting tomorrow, then I will be there, late as always," Usagi said as she scratched the cat behind the ears. "Hey Luna, would you mind spending the night with Ami. She needs to be told what happened a little while ago, and I don't feel like digging out my communicator."

"I'm not sure if that is such a wise idea, Usagi-chan," Luna said quietly.

"Luna, it's not like he's going to try anything. I assure you that I'll be fine. Besides I have a feeling that you'd have a better night's rest at Ami-chan's considering how I woke you up earlier."

The cat looked from her young charge and then to the masked figure standing by the door. "I'll trust you, Usagi-chan, but if there is any trouble, I want you to contact the other senshi, understand?"

Usagi nodded and muttered a soft thank you to the cat before Luna walked over to the window and walked out. She sighed and looked up to Tuxedo Kamen. "I kinda figured that you might get tired of wearing the mask and hate after a while, and I don't think you want everyone knowing you're real identity."

Tuxedo Kamen nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate that, and you're right. These things do get annoying after a while."

Usagi smiled before a thought occurred to her. "Ano… Would you like to sit down? I mean, I know that there isn't much space, but I could always scoot over to give you some room to sit down."

"I'll sit on the floor so I don't take up more space than I have to," he told her as he walked over and took a seat leaning against her nightstand, next to her bed he looked up at her and saw that she'd laid back and was currently looking up at her ceiling. He removed his mask and hat since they were the only ones in the room

"Can I ask you a question?" she said softly.

"You can ask me anything, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to answer the question," he told her simply.

"Why do you always were that ugly green jacket?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, I like my jacket!" he retorted. "Besides, it kinda grows on you after a while, because I honestly thought it was an eyesore when I first got it after my first modeling job as a gift from one of the women on the set. I never saw the woman again, but it was still a warm jacket."

Usagi blinked and held back a laugh but nodded anyways. "One more question. Why did you become Tuxedo Kamen? I told you why, well how, I became Sailor Moon, and figured that it was only fair."

Tuxedo Kamen nodded and smiled at her. "That's a fair question, and to answer, I'm not sure. I've been Tuxedo Kamen for as long as you've been Sailor Moon I suppose. I can't remember part of the time, but… I suppose that's all I can answer when concerning the subject."

"Wow…" Usagi muttered. "Well, um…"

Tuxedo Kamen smirked after a moment. "How about I ask you a question?"

"Depends on the question, and get that smirk off of your face," she replied with a mock glare.

He chuckled softly, but did as he was told. "All right. For the random question, why don't you have a boyfriend?"

Usagi blushed bright red, and stammered for a moment before glaring at Mamoru who was currently looking quite evil in her eyes. "That was low… But I suppose since you answered two questions, I should answer this one… No time since becoming a senshi, daddy is over protective, and no one has ever seemed like the right person."

"The right person?" he asked curiously. "You're one of those people who believes that there is one person out there for everyone aren't you?"

Usagi blushed brighter before sticking her tongue out at him. "And what if I am? I like the idea, and when I look at my parents, I can't help but feel that way. They've been married for sixteen years, and they're still happy together."

"I suppose that makes sense," he said as she turned onto her side to look at him.

"Is there anything else that you want to ask? I mean I asked two questions, so it is only fair that you get to ask two questions."

He thought for a moment, trying to come up with a question, but… There was only one thing that he could really think of, and he doubted that he would get the answer he wanted since she'd been too young to remember what had happened. "Hmm… I can't really think of anything to ask. Call me odd, but I think I know enough about you for right now."

"All right," she said with a yawn. "I guess I'd better get to sleep, but… I wanted to thank you. For staying here. I-It really means a lot to me."

He shook his head and smiled gently at the young blonde. "I do it because I want to. You mean a lot to me, even though I may not act like it a lot of the time."

Usagi smiled as her eyes drifted closed, with a softly mumbled, "Oyasumi nasai."

"Oyasumi, Usagi-chan," he whispered. After a while, he looked around at her room, and even began counting the rabbits she had, reaching the number 33, before stopping when he heard her whimper softly.

"Endymion…" she called out quietly as she reached her hand out as she slept. A moment later, she started thrashing as if something were holding her down, and tears began to fall from her eyes. "No…" she whimpered as Mamoru, who had moved from his spot on the floor to kneeling beside her, held down her arms in a grip that was both firm and gentle, in an attempt to make sure that she didn't injure herself. He whispered her name softly as he tried to wake her up. "Usagi-chan, wake up… You're dreaming, Usagi-chan. Wake up… Onegai…" As he realized that his method wasn't working, he took both of her hands into his own, and his free hand reached up to gently stroke her face, worried by the pained look that was on her face. "Usagi-chan, it's me, Mamoru. You need to wake up. You're having a bad dream."

Slowly, the blonde came around and opened her eyes, which still looked haunted by the nightmare which she'd been having. "M-Mamoru-san…" she whispered as tears began to fall.

He nodded and gently pushed a slightly damp bang off of her forehead. "You were having a night mare… Do you want to talk about it?"

Usagi shook head as scenes continued to flash through her mind. She had been dreaming of the man in the dream since before she was Sailor Moon, but never had she ever dreamed anything so vivid. He'd never died before…

Mamoru saw the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes and gently pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. His heart went out to the young girl as he felt her tears soak through the jacket of his tuxedo. He rubbed her back soothingly as he rested his chin on the top of her head, and after a few minutes, she'd fallen asleep in his arms, having exhausted herself.

When he was sure that she wouldn't wake up, Mamoru tried to carefully lay the girl back on her bed, but found that even in sleep, she was clinging tightly to him. Sighing, he shifted so that he was leaning back against the headboard so that they would be more comfortable, wondering when she would eventually let him go, while part of him hoped that she wouldn't.

Mamoru eventually felt his eyelids grow heavy, and fell asleep, never noticing how his henshin faded.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's chapter four. Kinda slow, I know. The next chapter should be out soon, and for those of you who are waiting for A Simple Knock, I just finished it. I just need to get it off of my laptop.


	5. Stay Now

**Title: Sanctuary** **  
** **Author: Maetel** **  
** **Email: ****  
** **URL: N/A ** **  
** **Rating: M 15+** **  
** **Summary: When Sailor Moon witnesses the death of an innocent, Usagi ends up turning to Mamoru in her darkest hour. Minor alterations have been made on the timeline so that Mamoru knows who he is, while Nephrite is around.** **  
** **Chapters: 5?** **  
** **Status: Incomplete** **  
** **Year Completed: Incomplete**

"Hide in bed, sheets overhead  
Blocking out the sun  
Feel like we are marooned at sea  
Away from everyone  
And I, I hate to say goodbye  
I want you to touch me one more time…"   
- Jem, "Stay Now"

When Usagi woke, she felt incredibly warm, comfortable, and most of all, peaceful. Her head was resting against something that was firmer than her normal pillows, and she noticed a soft rhythm coming from what her head was resting on. At first she thought that she had simply wound up using Luna as a pillow sometime during the night, but her eyes shot open when she remembered that she had sent Luna to Ami's during the night.

She lifted her head, and blinked when she saw Mamoru's sleeping face. She shifted her hand so that she could sit up and blinked when she noticed that her hand wasn't touching the material she was so accustomed to feeling when he was normally in his tuxedo, but instead she was feeling the bare skin of his chest. She looked down and saw that he was only wearing a pair of blue boxers. She blushed brightly, her heart racing, as she shot up into a sitting position. She looked back over at him, trying to figure out how he was in such a state of undress.

Usagi noticed how Mamoru began to stir and smiled as his dark blue eyes slowly drifted open. She couldn't help but think how sweet he looked when he was asleep, but quickly shoved those thoughts out of her mind when she heard some feet shuffling out side of her bedroom door.

"Crap!" she squeaked as she lightly began to shake Mamoru. "Oi… Mamoru-san, wake up…" she snapped quietly. "Now!"

"Nani…" Mamoru mumbled sleepily. He didn't want to wake up. He'd been warm, and comfortable, and just wanted to stay like that, but then, something took the warmth away, and was quickly dragging him out of his restful slumber. "Odango… What're you-" he started before the events of the day before began to come back to him. "Usagi-chan, what's goi-"

"You aren't wearing the tuxedo!" she hissed quietly. "If my parents catch you like that, they'll kill you, and I will not be allowed to leave the house until I'm sixty!"

"Shit," was the word that went through his mind as Mamoru nodded and looked around for the standard red rose that usually appeared when his henshin reverted. He looked around at things surrounding the bed, and groaned when he couldn't see it.

"What?" Usagi asked nervously.

"A rose… the… My rose… I can't find it, and I need it if I want to be able to keep your parents from seeing me in next to nothing," he said, noticing the blush that colored her cheeks at the mention of what he was, or rather what he wasn't wearing.

"Standard red rose?" she asked as she turned and started to shift around her blankets and pillows in an attempt to find the flower.

"Yeah," he answered before there was a light knock on her door. "Oh man…"

"Usagi-chan," came the soft voice of her mother from the other side of the wooden panel.

"Go, into the closet now!" she ordered softly, as she rose from her bed. "I'll tell mom that you left…"

Mamoru nodded, and did as he was told to try and make sure that he wasn't discovered. He then heard a slight squeak of metal and Usagi's voice.

"Ohayo, okaa-san," she muttered sleepily. "Sorry I…" He heard her pause, most likely a yawn. "…was sleeping. Did you need something?"

"I was going to see if the young man who had kept guard over you would like some breakfast," Ikuko said.

"Oh… Um… He's outside. Contacting one of the sailor senshi, I think," Usagi lied. "He said that he would be back in a couple of minutes."

"All right, dear," Ikuko said. She looked at her daughter's bed for a moment and blinked. "What a beautiful flower."

Usagi turned and looked towards where her mother was looking, but couldn't see what she was talking about. "What flower, okaa-san?"

"The one just above your pillow. It's a lovely shade of red from what I can tell… Maybe I could get your father to buy some roses, or at least some flowers while he is out today."

"That'd be nice," Usagi said "Demo, okaa-san, can I please be allowed to change for breakfast. I feel like going and seeing Rei-chan at the temple, if you don't mind."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Usagi-chan? If there is something out there wanting to attack you, then perhaps it would be safer if you stayed home," Ikuko questioned, her dark eyes filled with concern.

"Hai," Usagi said simply. "It's just… They've attacked me at the house once already. I don't want to put you, otou-san, or Shingo-chan in danger."

Ikuko sighed, knowing that her daughter had made her point. "All right. You can go."

"Arigato, okaa-san," Usagi said with a smile. "Now I think I'm going to change, so…"

The blue haired woman laughed and nodded. "I'll let you change, but before I go, is there anything in particular that you want for breakfast?"

"An omelette maybe?" Usagi said hopefully. "With waffles!"

Ikuko nodded and smiled. "All right. They should be ready by the time you've changed." She then turned and started down the stairs to the kitchen.

Usagi closed her door and walked over to her bed as Mamoru stuck his head out of the closet door. She couldn't help but laugh at the pink shirt that was draped over his hair. He frowned as he carefully pushed the shirt off of his head and looked at the blonde.

"I don't think you own enough pink, Usagi-chan," he commented dryly. "And did you find my rose?"

She stuck her tongue out as she pulled the rose from where her mother had spotted it. "Hai… Well, actually , okaa-san did. She spotted it from my door."

"Hidden in plain sight. Just like you," Mamoru commented as he walked out and took the rose from her. "Thanks."

Usagi nodded and watched as he closed his eyes and as the familiar tuxedo appeared. She couldn't help but blush as she made a mental note of just how muscular he really was, now that she'd actually taken time to notice it. She couldn't help but recall just how comfortable of a pillow he'd made when she had woken up, and felt her cheeks burn even brighter.

"What are you thinking, Odango?" Tuxedo Kamen quipped with a raised eyebrow. "Or did the sight of me make your brain stop functioning?"

"Baka!" Usagi snapped as she glared at him. "For that… Get out!"

"I'm sorry, Od-"

"Call me odango again, and I'll make you eat an odango shaped slipper!" Usagi threatened, though her seriousness was belied by the smile she was trying to suppress. "Actually, I just need to change clothes, now get out! Okaa-san wanted me to see if you wanted any breakfast, and since I have a feeling that you might be hungry after what happened last night, you can wait outside my door."

"All right, Usagi-chan," said the masked man as he headed towards her door. "I'll be waiting for you right outside."

"You can probably go on down," Usagi told him.

"Probably, but your father is kinda scary, even when compared to all of the youma we've fought, so I am avoiding him for right now."

Usagi laughed and nodded before he walked out of her room, closing the door behind him. After a couple of minutes and a few muffled thuds, Usagi walked out of her room wearing a long blue skirt, pale pink tank top, and a white over shirt.

"Come on," Usagi said as she started down the stairs. He noticed how she walked down the stairs carefully, most likely to keep from tripping, but saw how she soon tripped on the end of her skirt, as she was reaching the bottom of the stairs.

Before she fell however, Usagi felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist, steadying her before she wound up falling headfirst down the stairs. "Daijobu, Usagi-chan?"

Usagi nodded mutely and took a moment to regain herself, not to mention try to calm her heart from such close contact twice in one day. She then started back down the stairs, and made it without any more incidents.

"There you two are," said Ikuko as she saw the two walk into the kitchen. "Have a seat. Breakfast will be ready in a moment. Waffles are taking a bit more time than expected."

"I-I should go, Tsukino-san," started Tuxedo Kamen. "It wouldn't be right of me to intrude on your family breakfast."

"Don't be silly. I don't mind. It is the least I can do for you making sure that my daughter was safe," said Ikuko as she looked over to finally notice the death glare that her husband was giving the masked man. "Kenji-chan…"

The spectacled man blinked and looked at his wife, noticing the warning look that he was giving, and looked down at the paper in front of him, causing Shingo, who was witnessing the whole event, to laugh at what was taking place.

Meanwhile Usagi was watching as Tuxedo Kamen looked around uncomfortably, but couldn't pinpoint why since her father was behaving.

"Are you all right?" Usagi asked quietly as she leaned over so that her parents wouldn't hear.

"Hai, I'm just not used to this sort of surroundings. I um… Being in the uniform in a more or less public setting is just… Odd."

"It's all right. You just reminded me of Luna when I am trying to give her a bath," said Usagi. "I'm sure that okaa-san wouldn't mind if you left. "

"I'm not sure if you remember, but I did try. Your mother wound up telling me to sit down," he reminded her, drawing a laugh from the blonde.

Ikuko looked at the giggling blodne raised an eyebrow. "Might I ask what is so funny?" she asked as she placed a plate of waffles in front of her daughter and Tuxedo Kamen. The only difference between the two plates was the omelet on Usagi's.

"It's nothing, okaa-san. Just reminded of something that you said, and it just seemed kinda funny now that I've had the chance to think about it again," Usagi explained.

"All right, dear," said Ikuko as she watched her daughter and the masked man next to her. From the way they were acting. She knew the look in her daughter's eyes as she looked to the masked man, and Ikuko wondered if the feelings were returned. She had watched the young man the previous night as he refused to put the girl down after the attack, even after she had woken up.

"Arigato, Tsukino-san," Tuxedo Kamen said, drawing the woman out of her thoughts. "The breakfast looks delicious."

"It is the least that I can do since you did stay to make sure that my daughter was safe last night," Ikuko said with a small smile.

Tuxedo Kamen smiled and nodded. "You still have my thanks. It has been a long time since I've had a breakfast that looked this good."

Ikuko smiled proudly. "It's nice to hear that every once in a while," she said looking pointedly at Shingo and Kenji, causing the boy to look down, while her husband kept his face behind the news paper, not seeing the look his wife was giving him.

Usagi simply laughed quietly to herself at her little brother's expression as he at the last of his own waffles as she took a bite of her own.

"When are you going to be heading to the see Rei, Usagi-chan?" Ikuko questioned.

"Oh, about noon, I guess."

Tuxedo Kamen watched the two talk, as he slowly ate the breakfast. He almost envied Usagi for the relationship that he had with her mother, but shrugged the feeling off.

"Tsukino-san, I hate to eat and run, but I am afraid I must be going. I doubt that the ones who attacked Usagi-chan will be making a second attempt so soon," he said. "Arigato for the breakfast, but I must ask, is there a way I can get out without being spotted by any of the neighbors."

"My window," said Usagi as she looked at him with a gaze that told him that she knew what she was talking about. "It's backed by some trees that separate our house from the empty house behind ours."

Ikuko and Kenji looked at the small blonde, wondering how she knew so much about how much of an advantage point her room had when anyone needed to sneak out.

Usagi shrank in her seat with a slight blush. "There were times when Luna would get out, and I had a hard time finding her because of everything that was back there for her to hide in."

Ikuko frowned but nodded. Kenji, on the other hand, sighed. "Usagi-chan, I understand that you worry about Luna, but I don't want you sneaking out like that to search for her. Something could happen to you. Now, if I hear or catch you sneaking out, you will be grounded. Is that understood."

Usagi looked down, and Tuxedo Kamen could tell that she had felt bad about once again lying to her parents, but it was worsened by the idea of getting into trouble. "Hai, otou-san," he heard her say softly.

"Now, Usagi-chan, would you please show- I'm sorry, and I know that it is a strange thought to just come up, but I am not sure what to call you."

"I'm known as Tuxedo Kamen, to the senshi," he informed the blue haired woman with a slight bow.

"Arigato, Tuxedo Kamen-sama," said Ikuko, not noticing the blush on her daughter's face due to the fact that the very title she had just used was the same that her daughter used in battle. "Anyways, Usagi-chan, could you show Tuxedo Kamen-sama to the way out."

"H-Hai, okaa-san," she replied before leading the masked man up the stairs.

"Your family… I can see how you turned out the way you did," he told the blonde as they walked into her room. "They're great people."

"Yeah… I just hate the fact that they don't know the truth about what has been happening," Usagi said softly. "I hate lying to them. I-I'm sure that you feel the same way whenever you have to suddenly excuse yourself when you're talking to your fam-"

"I-I wouldn't know," he told her. "I've never had to tell them. I-…" He stopped and looked down, before breathing deeply. "I should go. I need to actually get dressed in something other than a Tuxedo."

Usagi looked worried but nodded. "A-All right. Um… Again, thank you for staying… and…"

"I'll see you, and hopefully it won't be at a battle," he joked lightly, knowing that would most likely be the circumstances.

Usagi nodded and watched as he climbed out of the window. "Mamoru-san…" she called out softly, causing him to stop and turn back to look at her. "Um… About what you told me. Whenever I needed to talk to someone? Well, I just… the same goes for you. I-If you ever need to talk to someone, then you can- You can always talk to me if you need someone…"

Mamoru smiled and nodded at the blonde. "Thank you," he said before disappearing from the window.

Usagi sighed and stared at the window with a small smile on her face. "Now I'm starting to see what Rei and Motoki see when they say that he isn't so bad," she murmured to herself before turning and heading down the stairs to rejoin her family and finish her breakfast.

Once she had finished the breakfast, the blonde kissed her mother on the cheek lightly. "I'll be back before dinner, okaa-san."

Ikuko nodded and smiled. "Be careful on the way there, Usagi-chan."

"I will, okaa-san," said Usagi. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama said that one of the senshi would be watching me on the way there, so I should be all right."

"That's nice to know, dear. If you ever see him again, will you tell him that I said that he is welcome at any time."

"I'm sure that he knows, but I will tell him that," Usagi said before heading to the door and slipping on her shoes before heading out.

As the blonde was heading towards the temple that Rei called home, she felt an eerie calm that caused a cold chill to travel up and down her spine.

"I-I know that you're there, Nephrite. What do you want?" Usagi snapped as she slowly turned.

"I simply want what my queen wants, Sailor Moon, and that is you dead," said the auburn haired general as he wrapped one arm around her waist and wrapped his hand around her throat. He smirked when he felt her stiffen in his arms. "Now I suggest you agree to cooperate with me, or else, I kill you, your friends, and your family. And trust me, I will feel nothing but the honor of serving my queen while doing so."

Usagi closed her eyes as she felt tears well up, and slowly nodded. "I'll do whatever you say, just leave them alone. I don't want anyone hurt…"

Nephrite smirked. "That's a good girl. Now…." Usagi bit her lip before she felt a sharp blow to the back of her head and felt darkness closing in on her.

'Gomen nasai, minna,' were the last thoughts to go through her mind before she lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, Rei and Ami, who were already at the temple with Luna, looked at each other in alarm when they heard the blonde's voice in their heads.

"Girls, what is the matter?" questioned Luna.

"Usagi-chan is in danger…" said Rei softly as she felt a cold fear wrap around her, sending shivers ripping through her.


	6. Your Rain

**Sanctuary Chapter six****  
**

_"On the sidewalk of the city on the streets just a whisper_

_Busy people going nowhere see me soak in the rain_

_No compassion_

_Nothing matters_

_My resistance is waiting_

_Like a flower in the basement waiting for a lonely death"_

** - Akira Yamaoka ft. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn "Your Rain (Rage Mix)"**

When Usagi regained consciousness, she felt as though her head were about to explode from the pain that was coming from the base of her skull. She forced herself to at least try to ignore the pain and looked around seeing multi-tonal light shining dimly into the room through stain glass windows. She tried to move her arms, but felt her hands bound to a rock hard chair by bonds that had sharp points that cut into her skin when she moved. She struggled a bit and felt the same cutting sensation around her midsection.

"Ugh… Where am I?" she asked, but regretted asking when she realized that whoever would answer was most likely either an enemy or… well… An enemy. Usagi groaned and looked down at her hands, trying to figure out some way to get free without injuring herself too badly. "Maybe if I henshin after getting loose, I might be able to get in touch wi-"

"Nice idea, but it wouldn't work. You're powers aren't going to help you as long as you sit in that chair. Special precautions have been taken for your stay here, Sailor Moon," said Nephrite as he walked into the room from a side door. "Besides, that little gold trinket that I noticed you wearing as both Sailor Moon, and as you are now…" He held up her broach and smirked. "I have a feeling that it has to be on your person to work."

"Am I going to have to sit here listening to you talk all day? Sleep is calling, and you are making it look all the more inviting," Usagi remarked, angering the general.

Nephrite strode over and stood in front of the blonde, with his face so close to hers that she couldn't help but breathe in his harsh smelling breath. "You truly are as dumb as you appear in battle, Sailor Moon. Don't you know it's not wise to make such comments to the person who holds your very life in his hands?"

Usagi swallowed hard at his words. "Fine, but what do you want with me? I think I've been put through enough by you and your creatures for the past couple of days."

Nephrite smirked sadistically before walking over to a small table to lay down the small broach. "Oh no. That is where you are wrong. You're going to be wishing that what you've had to go through was all that had taken place when I am through with making you pay for all of the innocents which you have destroyed."

"Innocents?" Usagi questioned. "I wouldn't call a youma innocent."

"So a citizen whose home was brutally ripped away from them by your precious moon queen isn't an innocent. You're nothing more than a hypocrite, Sailor Moon. You say you mourn for the child lost, and yet you destroy every creature that simply wishes for its true home to be returned."

Usagi blinked at his words before her eyes narrowed. "You're lying. I know you are. Those creatures could ne-"

"Never have become killers. I don't know. I mean look at you. You derive pleasure from destroying our warriors. I have seen you after battle. The love of destruction shines in your eyes whenever you destroy a being from the Dark Kingdom."

"I enjoy the feeling of knowing that no innocent person was injured or killed because of a youma being destroyed. I-" She was silenced when she saw a smirk cross his face.

"A killer always has some means to justify their actions," Nephrite stated. "But, I am not here to argue with you. I'm here to make you feel everything that you and your precious senshi inflict upon the youma that you have destroyed."

Usgai watched him with wary, albeit, fearful eyes as he waved a hand and a screen formed before her. She somehow doubted that his plans involved letting her watch anime on the screen, and grimaced when she heard Naru's all too familiar screams for help, as memories of her first battle came to mind.

"Getting the idea yet, Sailor Moon?" mocked Nephrite as he himself recalled Jadeite speaking of his first loss to the blonde and how he had found the youma turned to ash after the energy he had been gathering had disappeared.

The blonde remained silent until she cringed visibly as the scene of her wailing played on the screen. She could almost feel her eardrums getting ready to burst at the intensity. 'Luna never told me it w-' Her thoughts were cut short as a sharp hiss escaped her lips. Her arm felt as though it had been sliced open by a knife, and she then noticed that on the screen played the first appearance of Tuxedo Kamen.

Usagi felt her eyes watering up as she thought of Mamoru. Did he know that she'd been captured? What about… Usagi suddenly screamed out as she felt an intense burning slice through her, almost tearing her apart, and realized what had just happened. She'd just been forced to live through her own attack.

Once her screams subsided, Usagi wanted nothing more than to double over but found it impossible without causing herself more pain thanks to the chair she was trapped in. She bit her lip hard enough that she could taste her own blood as she struggled to keep back the tears that were trying to fall.

"Did that hurt, Sailor Moon?" he questioned, his voice full of cruel laughter. "Well, just remember there are more battles than that, so I suggest you take the next few seconds to re- Never mind. Here we go again."

As time, how long she wasn't sure, passed, Usagi wasn't sure if she should have been glad that she was the first senshi to appear or not. The sting of Tuxedo Kamen's roses brought tears to her eyes , and the pain of the tiara drove her to unconsciousness more times than she cared to admit, and when scenes of the other senshi appeared, Usagi truly started to feel pity towards the enemies she and the others had defeated.

She knew that they were enemies, but did they truly deserve such pain? As she was forced to live through Mars' and Mercury's attacks, Usagi felt as though the creatures were being tortured before finally being exposed to the source of such excruciating pain. Did they truly deserve such pain? They never killed innocents, only…

Usagi shook her head. Thoughts like those were what Nephrite was expecting. He wanted her to feel guilt for everything that she had done. She wasn't sure why, but she was sure that was his plan. Why else keep her alive for this long? She may not have been as smart as Ami, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that she should be dead.

Usagi was once again ripped from her thoughts as she felt a pain so intense that her entire body felt as though it were being destroyed atom by atom. She would have screamed out in pain had her body not been frozen in place by the sensations she was feeling. Tears fell from her eyes as her world once again started to go black.

---------------

Nephrite appeared before Beryl with a proud smile on his face.

"How is your plan progressing, Nephrite?" questioned the dark queen. She had warned him of what would happen if he had failed another mission, and felt a small bit of hope rise up in her at the fact that the auburn haired general had appeared before her.

"Sailor Moon is almost completely broken. Her body is even now struggling to draw breath; I can see that she is questioning her very duty by the expressions which have crossed her face. I am going to allow her one day of recuperation before allowing her to live through the deaths of those who fell during the battle on the moon against Serenity," he told her. "Afterwards, she is going to be wanting nothing more than to pay for her own crimes."

"I am impressed, Nephrite. At first, I thought your plan to be nothing more than foolishness, but perhaps, you will succeed where Jadeite failed. But do not underestimate your enemy. She has been close to defeat many times, but managed to pull herself back up," Beryl warned.

"I realize that, Beryl-sama, but this time she does not have her precious senshi or that masked fool to aide her. Without them she is weak," he replied.

Beryl smirked. "Very well, Nephrite, but before you destroy her, I want her brought here. I want to see the face of the girl who cost us so many of our forces before she is destroyed."

"Hai, Beryl-sama," Nephrite said with a bow to the red haired figure. "Your wish is my command."

Beryl smirked as he teleported back to what she could only call his base of operations. "Soon we shall be rid of that insufferable moon senshi, and Earth shall once again belong to the Dark Kingdom. All that will remain is finding that miserable little princess and the ginzuishou."

-----------------

Mamoru stood on the roof of the tallest city in Tokyo, straining to find Usagi through their link, and only coming up with intense pain. He had tried to trace the link back to her, but it was too weak which he knew that where ever she was, she was suffering as Usagi.

He'd not contacted any of the other senshi since the day after Usagi had gone missing, four days before. He'd gone without seeing her before, but this time it was different. He couldn't ignore the pain in his chest that came with the thought of her being injured. The only time that he'd felt anything remotely similar was after the drea- no, the nightmare of the princess impaling herself.

"Usagi-chan… Where are you?" he muttered softly as he once again forced himself to focus on their bond. He could almost feel her, he knew, but that wouldn't help him, though neither would getting little to no sleep for ninety-six hours with only the help of coffee and the odd caffeine pill that he bought at a small store, but that wasn't stopping him.

"Tuxedo Kamen-sama," he heard the quiet voice of the senshi of Mercury say.

The masked man turned and looked at her. "H-How long have you been there?" he questioned.

"I just saw you up here from the building next door," she said pointing to one of the top floor windows of a nearby building. "I just received a message from Sailor Mars. She thinks that she might have found something, but she wants you there. It's only right since you have been searching for her."

He nodded slowly to Sailor Mercury as a sign of his thanks. "You can go on ahead. I'll be there soon."

The blue haired young warrior nodded before leaping to a nearby rooftop and heading to the temple, leaving Tuxedo Kamen staring out over the city, once again focusing on the link, but this time hoping that the message he was sending was going to be heard by the young blonde: "Hold on, Usagi. We're coming."

He then turned and raced to the temple using the same route of the senshi that had just left him.

When he arrived, he saw Sailor Mercury revert back to her civilian form before heading inside. He looked down wondering if he should do the same, but he had yet to reveal his identity to them, so could not find the point in doing so.

He silently leapt down and entered the temple, before heading to the room which housed the Great Fire. He saw the raven haired miko sitting there with her head bowed and the blue haired genius sitting behind her. He quietly walked up beside her and knelt as well, waiting for Rei to speak.

He didn't wait long before she finally said, "She's somewhere nearby. I saw in the great fire the forest, and a large…" She paused for a moment trying to think of the right word. "I saw a Cathedral, shrouded by the night sky. She's in so much pain, and though I didn't see her, I saw previous battles in the vision." Rei grew quiet. Her black hair screened her profile from the vision of either of the two behind her, but they knew that something was happening as the fire before her suddenly intensified. "Something is about to happen. Something important to the past, and the future."

"The princess?" questioned Ami quietly.

Rei looked back at the girl. "I'm not sure. I-I don't think so, but whatever it is might be connected to her."

Tuxedo Kamen looked to the fire for a moment before sighing. "Is that all you've learned?"

"That's all that the fire has chosen to show me. I can only do so much," she replied. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I- We have some idea of where to look now. You have done your best, and I thank you for that, Rei," he told her as he got up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You've proven that she is still alive, and that is all that matters right now. We can worry about everything else once she's rescued."

He saw her head nod before moving towards the door. "I'm going to go and try to get a better idea of where she is. There cannot be that many cathedrals in the vicinity of the forest. I'll find a way to contact you when I find something."

"Arigato," said Ami as she looked back at him. "If you need to, Luna said that Usagi-chan's communicator is still on her nightstand. You can use it to contact either one of us."

Tuxedo Kamen nodded solemnly before leaving the room and the temple altogether.

Ami turned her attention to Rei and sighed heavily. "I didn't want to say this in front of him, but there was something that you weren't telling him isn't there?" questioned the girl genius softly. "Whatever you saw involved him in some way, didn't it?"

"Was I that obvious?" questioned the young miko. She didn't wait for her friend to reply before turning and looking at Ami. "He is going to find her, but something is going to happen. Something is going to be revealed to him and Usagi-chan, and I'm not sure what it is exactly, but I have a feeling that it is going to explain just how they are connected and exactly why he is also involved with the battle against the Dark Kingdom."

Ami blinked. "You said that it was going to be connected to the past and future."

Rei nodded. "I'm not sure how, but he was around during the Silver Millennium, meaning we need to find Luna and see if she can answer any of our questions. She might know, and give us some insight as to just how he was involved with everything that took place. If she doesn't know, she at least needs to be informed of what was discovered here."

"She will be relieved to know that Usagi-chan is alive," Ami added. "She's been blaming herself for everything, she I hate to see her in so much pain. I have a feeling that we're all going to need to be strong for Usagi-chan when she is returned to us. This has been too much for anyone to go through in such a short amount of time, especially considering what the Dark Kingdom could be putting her through."

Rei nodded and pulled her hen shin wand from her subspace pocket. "Let's go then," she said softly. "Tuxedo Kamen may have been the one to find her in the vision, but we can't just sit around waiting."

Ami nodded before calling forth her own henshin wand. The two then called out their henshin phrases, feeling the power rush through them before they left the temple and headed for the forest.

The two had split up after having reached the forest after half an hour of racing at top speed they weren't sure where to look exactly, but that didn't deter them. Over two hours had passed before they were forced to stop dead in their tracks by a brilliant white light as it erupted from somewhere deep in the woods, with the distant shriek of, "Endymion!" ringing in it's wake.

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And now for the thanks.

Many thanks to RedRose, Endy's Girl, shortie630, SexyBeast101, foreverme307, secretguest, meljoy, and Rasmus. It makes me feel good to know that people are actually reading this, and enjoying it

And special thanks to Meg-of-the-Moon. I've never been compared to anyone else, especially to one of my favorite fanfic writers, Alicia Blade. That just made me feel great, not to mention fed my ego a bit.


	7. In The Light

Title: Sanctuary  
Author: Maetel  
Email:  
URL: N/A  
Rating: M 15+  
Summary: When Sailor Moon witnesses the death of an innocent, Usagi ends up turning to Mamoru in her darkest hour. Minor alterations have been made on the timeline so that Mamoru knows who he is, while Nephrite is around.  
Chapters: 7?  
Status: Incomplete

Year Completed: Incomplete

"Lift me up  
Lead me from this place  
Let your love be mercy on my face  
Rising up, I changed before your eyes  
Out of darkness, standing in the light"

- Full Blown Rose "In the Light"

Tuxedo Kamen had been racing through the forest in search of the cathedral when the light had erupted from seemingly no where. He heard Usagi's pained cry and almost raced to her, but stopped himself when he realized that there was no one of telling if he would survive going into the light. He almost smacked himself for thinking of such a corny cliché when he should have been saving Usagi. He looked around for any sign that the light wasn't harmful and nodded when he saw a couple of forest creatures emerge from the light calmly, as though they hadn't noticed anything.

He leapt from treetop to treetop until he himself was surrounded by seemingly nothing but light. He staggered a bit when he felt a power that was only vaguely familiar wash over him, disrobing him only to instantaneously clothing him once again. He looked down and saw that instead of the tuxedo he was known for and accustomed to, he was wearing deep blue and black armor, and a sword hanging from his side.

Shaking his head of thoughts pertaining to what had happened and why he was now wearing armor, Mamoru once again raced in the direction from which the shriek had come, but also felt the all too familiar link flare to life.

"Hold on, Usagi-chan," he whispered as he came upon the cathedral type building. Many of the windows were shattered, though there was no glass on the ground below them, and the doors had been blown out, their only remains being the hinges by which they were supported. He stepped inside, taking in his surroundings to make sure that he wasn't going to be attacked by a youma, noting the tattered looking screen that was still barely hanging from the ceiling, before he spotted the blonde where she was in the center of the room, the light, which seemed to be originating from her fading quickly. He looked around for Nephrite, but saw the general's body lying on the floor, literally fading away in a cloud of shimmering dust.

Mamoru quickly raced over and knelt down by the blonde's side. He placed a trembling hand on the side of her face, and felt a brief moment of relief pass over him as he saw her open her eyes and look up at him.

"Endymion, you're all right," she murmured softly before her eyes fluttered closed and she lost consciousness.

Mamoru looked minorly confused for a moment before shaking his head and gathering the blonde up in his arms. He briefly wondered why she wasn't transformed until a dim flash of gold caught his eye from a table that was strangely untouched.

"No wonder she never transformed while she was captured," he thought aloud as he moved over and carefully picked up the golden trinket, making sure not to disturb the blonde in his arms. Once he straightened up, he looked around the room to see what had remained, and then to Usagi. He almost couldn't believe that it was her power that had caused the damage to the building, but he couldn't think of an explanation otherwise.

He then turned towards the door and carried her out, and into the forest, which Mars and Mercury were racing through on their way to the very building he had just exited.

"Mamoru-san, is she all right?" questioned the dark haired fire senshi as she watched him with the frail, almost broken, looking young girl he held tightly in his arms.

He looked up at the senshi in red, the worry shining from the otherwise emotionless face, and she didn't need any sort of answer.

"We need to get her home. Her parents have been worrying themselves sick about her," Mercury stated only to blink in confusion at Mamoru who was glaring at her, with a look on his face that made her almost regret ever suggesting such an option.

"If we take her home in this state, her parents will be in the same condition or perhaps even more stress will be placed upon their shoulders. Besides, we do not know what was done to her exactly," he stated as he felt his clothing shift back to the tuxedo he had been wearing before heading into the building. "Anyways, we do know how close she was to her home when she was captured meaning, there could be someone after her even now, waiting for us to take her back just so they can recapture her."

Mercury sighed, seeing his point. "Then where ar-"

"Mamoru-san, would you be willing to take care of her?" questioned Mars, interrupting the blue haired ice senshi. "Mercury and I would be putting our families in danger if she came with us, and from what Motoki-kun said about you, I'm guessing that you live on your own."

"Thank you, Sailor Mars," he said with a nod. "I'll contact each of you once she regains consciousness, and I have a better idea of what was done."

Before Mercury could utter another word, the dark haired young man walked past both of the senshi. She watched him walk silently before turning her attention to her partner in arms. "Rei-chan, are you sure that letting him take her is wise?"

"I'm sure. He… Something about him… Luna told us about what happened the night after the battle before Usagi was kidnapped. Think about it, Ami-chan. As much as we don't trust him as Tuxedo Kamen, as Mamoru, have you ever noticed how he acts when they don't fight? When she's not around? And what about when she first went missing? He may not be the nicest guy towards her, but if you haven't noticed, unless your name is Motoki or Usagi, you are given the same treatment as a perfect stranger."

The blue haired ice senshi sighed and nodded. "I can see where you are coming from, but… Didn't you see how haggard he looked?"

"I know, but he's still the only one capable of fully protecting her. If we took her with one of us, there would be too many questions to answer," stated Rei as she felt her henshin fade.

Ami frowned but said nothing to negate the miko's words. Worry still nagged at her saying that there was some reason as to why Usagi should have just been taken home, but she knew that Mamoru was the only person who could take care of Usagi without raising questions about what had happened to the girl, or putting anyone in any unnecessary danger.

"Come on, Ami-chan, let's head on home before we run the risk of anyone who saw the light blaming it on us," said the raven haired girl as she started walking away.

Ami nodded and started after the young miko in training.

------------

When Mamoru returned to his apartment, he carefully carried the blonde in his arms into his room and gently laid her on his bed. He looked down at her with a hint of relief on his features, as well as amazement. A few days ago, he never would have thought of the young girl as anything but a carefree girl whose only concern was not scraping her knees on her daily rush to school, but after everything that he had learned about her, he wasn't sure what to think except that she didn't deserve the pain she'd felt since becoming Sailor Moon.

He could see the old tracks left by tears of pain, though whether the pain was emotional or physical, he wasn't sure. He wanted to make whoever had done this to the young blonde pay with everything that they could give, but realized that the right belonged to Usagi, and whether or not she had realized it, her revenge had been taken.

He was drawn from his thoughts as he heard her whimper softly, calling out, "Endymion," the name he had heard her say twice, but never had the chance to ask about. He felt a pang of jealousy that she was calling out for someone else, but those feelings were overwrought by the confusion that came to him as he remembered that she had called him that when he had rescued her.

What confused him even more was the feelings that he had? He'd never felt so strongly before about anything except for the things that he felt for the princess in his dreams, and as he thought back, even the dreams in which he saw her had been affected by what he felt for her. He groaned softly, shaking his head.

Sleep deprivation was getting to him, he was sure. Things would seem clearer after he'd rested, but he wasn't sure if he should. What if Usagi woke up while he slept to unfamiliar surroundings causing her to panic? As strong as she was, he knew that her emotions ruled over her more than logic. He sighed as he gently leaned down and brushed a lock of hair from her face. A small smile graced his features as her hands moved up to grasp his. He simply watched her as she slept, blushing lightly as her hands moved to clutch his own to her chest like a treasured object.

It wasn't until he tried to pull away so that he could go an get a chair to sleep in that he realized that she wasn't going to release him. He tried to pull his hand away a small number of times, stopping when he heard a soft whimper escape the blonde.

Mamoru sighed as he finally gave up. He carefully laid down beside her, so not to disturb her sleep and blinked as she curled up beside him. He wrapped his free arm around her, his tuxedo fading into the slacks and button down shirt he'd been wearing before he allowed himself to drift off to sleep, though his rest was short lived.

Mamoru was forced back into the world of the woken by the thrashing blonde beside him. He groaned softly when her hand slammed into his abdomen, forcing the air out of him, as well as the need to sleep. Just as her hand was about to come in contact with his face, Mamoru's hand flew up and grabbed her wrist gently. He sat up and placed his free hand on her other arm to gently shake her.

"Usagi-chan, wake up," he told her.

"No…" she cried softly. "You… You're lying… I… No…"

"Usagi-chan… It's me, Mamoru. It's time to wake up," he said as he continued to try and make her wake up from the nightmare she was having. "You're having a nightmare. You're safe now, Usagi-chan."

After a long moment, she jerked awake, and stared at him as though she didn't recognize his face for a long second before suddenly wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, clinging to him like a lifeline.

She sobbed quietly into his shoulder as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her trembling frame.

"I-I thought that… That you coming to rescue me was just a dream, or that he'd been playing a trick on me…" she whispered. "I-I was so scared. He showed me that you'd died… And… I… I couldn't feel you…"

He gently stroked her hair as he whispered to her soothingly, trying to calm her and assure her that she was safe. He placed a tender kiss to her temple and rested his chin on the top of her head.

Usagi blinked at his actions, but didn't release him. After a while, her tears eventually subsided, and she felt as though she had just gotten drained by a youma. She yawned and relaxed against Mamoru, feeling safe for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

Mamoru looked at the small blonde. "Tired?" he asked.

Usagi nodded and looked up at home. He became worried when he saw a frown cross her features, and asked, "Usagi-chan, what's wrong?"

"When was the last time you slept?" she replied softly as her hand came up and lightly brushed a lock of hair out his eyes, showing just how shadowed his eyes were. Mamoru stiffened as he felt her fingertips as they lightly ran over his skin.

"That doesn't matter right now. You should rest, Usagi-chan," he told her.

"It does matter. You could get sick if you don't get enough rest," she said. "I-I don't want you getting sick because of me. I'm not worth getting sick over."

Mamoru sighed but smiled at her. He wasn't sure how she'd always been able to put others before herself, even after having being captured and held prisoner by Nephrite. Then again, that was probably the reason she was chosen to be a senshi. That was the reason why he'd felt drawn to her in the first place. Felt the need to protect her in battle.

"All right," he said. "I'll rest, if you do. You're going to have to go home soon, and I want to make sure that you're all right." Usagi blinked and looked at him, but before she said anything he held up a hand and continued, "I didn't want your parents worrying about whether or not you were going to be all right in their care. And just in case the Dark Kingdom wanted to try and capture you all over again. No putting innocent civilians in danger."

Usagi nodded. "I understand. Thank you."

Mamoru smiled softly at her, laughing quietly as she yawned. "Now, I think it's time that you got some rest. I'm going to get in touch with the senshi to let them know that you're all right. I'll be right back once I've gotten in touch with them."

Usagi shook her head and reached out to take his hand. "I have a feeling that once you tell them that I am all right, they'll want me to go home, and right now, I don't think that I'd be very safe at home. I just.. I'd feel safer if I were with you."

Mamoru blinked and smiled at the faint blush that stained her cheeks. He then nodded and said, "All right. I'll call them later, when you want me to."

"Thanks," Usagi said with a nod as she laid back against the pillows with a tired sigh, but scooted over so that he could lie down beside her. "You need to rest too."

"I was planning on getting a chair-"

Usagi shook her head and held a hand out to him. "This is your bed, isn't it?" She saw him nod before continuing, all the while slowly rising into a sitting position and moving to stand. "Then you shouldn't be put out. I-I could sleep in the-"

"No, I brought you in here so that you could be comfortable," he said as he gently pushed her back down so that she was sitting. "If you want me to stay, then I will."

Usagi smiled at him and stretched out on the mattress. "I do. Please."

Mamoru shook his head with a disbelieving smile that she didn't notice. He was once again reminded of just how innocent the blonde girl was. Falling asleep in a tuxedo was one thing. Falling asleep while the girl was unconscious was another, but lying beside an all too trusting girl who he had seen in a short skirt one too many times was on a level that he wasn't sure he wanted to think about.

"All right," he said as he remembered that he had meant to ask her about the name Endymion, but couldn't bring himself to ask, worrying that it might be too soon after all that had taken place so instead he yawned.

'I'll ask her when she wakes up, but for now I'll just wait for her to fall asleep and then go and get a chair,' he thought as he stretched out next to Usagi. Before he knew it however, he'd fallen asleep before she did.

-----------------

"Zoicite, report before me at once!" roared Beryl.

"You summoned me, Beryl-sama," said the flaxen haired general.

"Yes. As you should know by now, Nephrite has been destroyed. I want you to start formulating a plan to destroy the sailor senshi," the red haired monarch declared. " I want the plan reported to me before tomorrow ends. And take in mind, I will not accept any sort of failure from you, Zoicite."

"Hai, Beryl-sama," replied Zoicite as he bowed low to his queen. "But might I ask, I was wondering if Nephrite ever reported to you the identity of Sailor Moon. He had been holding her captive before his destruction, had he not?"

Beryl sneered. "The incompetent fool chose not to disclose the information that he had gained."

Zoicite nodded slowly. "The sailor senshi will soon be destroyed, for you, Beryl-sama. Of this you can rest assured."

"Do not be so arrogant, Zoicite. Your predecessors were and look where they have ended up," she told him with a cold look in her eyes and a raised eyebrow.

"Hai, Beryl-sama," he said before teleporting out of the room in a flurry of sakura petals.

Beryl then leaned back and smirked. "Soon those senshi will be gone, and the Earth will belong to me." She sighed as a memory passed through her mind. "Oh, Endymion, if only you had chosen to be with me. Then you could have been by my side on the day that the Earth became a part of the Dark Kingdom. But none of that will matter soon enough. The senshi and their miserably weak princess will be destroyed, and the ginzuishou will be mine."

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Comment Replies! But first, wow. I think I've only gotten so many reviews for one chapter only twice before. I love you guys! Thank you for the reviews!

**Secret Guest **- Don't worry. This will not turn into a Mamoru-capture fic. I only do one chapter per story whenever I have a character being kidnapped. Besides I like having Mamoru the emotionally strong one in contrast to how weak and closed off he is in the anime. That and he's captured enough in the series.

**Venus Love-55** - Thanks for the comment. I am kinda proud of this fic. And I'll be sure to check out your fics!

**Midnight** - I'm kinda nervous when people say they have read my old fics since a lot of them are in serious need of some work. Thanks though.

**Saiyajin Princess Chichi** - Wow… I've never been told that my fic was addicting before! Thanks!

**Meljoy** - You're answer is below! I hope I didn't disappoint!

**Tiffany** - Hehe! Thanks!

**Marishka-1** - Thank you! My ego thanks you as well!

**Foreverme307** - I hope this update was soon enough. I tried to get these chapters out as fast as I can!  
**  
Endy's Girl** - points to the over inflated ego Thanks

**BryBry628** - I try! I enjoy leaving people at the edge of their seats!

**Animefan112192** - I'm flattered! Thank you so much!

**Red-Rose18 **- Thank you! I tried to get this up as fast as I could!

**MoonBunny777 **- Thank you so much. It makes me feel so great when someone adds one of my fics to a favorite's list.

**KeikoKasaiTora** - sorry for the wait! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**cassandrare2001 - **Wow, I've never been told that before... Thanks

**erzuliegoddessoflove **- I take pride in the evil cliffies! And don't worry, this will have a happy ending.

**shortie360** - Wow... I didn't think this was that good. My ego and I thank you!


	8. Mary Jane

Hey everyone! Sorry this took so long. Anyways since I have been informed of a new rule, I'm not able to answer your replies. I just want to thank everyone for reading the fic and commenting. I appreciate the reviews so much and many thanks to the reviewer who pointed out an over used method of description I tend to use. I hope it's not quite as bad in this chapter. I tried to avoid it.

There isn't much Usa/Mamo in this chapter. In fact, there is little to no Mamoru in this chapter. He deserves a bit of rest...

Now, on with the story

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"What's the matter Mary Jane, had a hard day?  
So place the don't disturb sign on the door.  
Lost your place in line again, what a pity.  
You never seem to want to dance anymore..?  
- Alanis Morissette _Mary Jane_

Rei and Ami sat in Rei's room waiting for the call from Mamoru to let them know that Usagi was all right. The two watched as Luna nervously paced the floor, her eyes narrowed in thought.

"I've been trying to comprehend what you have told me, but tell me again, you let him take her why?" the feline questioned the two girls who looked down nervously.

"Because something about the way he looked… He wasn't… It's hard to explain Luna," said Rei as she tried to find some way to explain her decisions that she'd made the last night.

"You didn't see him, Luna. He looked so different. He was wearing some sort of armor, and the air about him almost demanded no argument. He was almost like royalty. It was just so strange," Ami explained as she ran a hand through her hair nervously.

"I'm still trying to figure this out. You say he was wearing armor?" Luna asked. "That… This just draws up even more unanswered questions. I understand what you mean when you said how there seemed to be no argument with him, but I'm incapable of figuring out why."

"Luna, could he have something to do with the princess?" questioned Rei. "Like Ami-chan said, he was almost like royalty. Could he-"

"I don't think so," said Luna. "I'm sure that I would remember something about a prince. I mean if there was a prince connected to the princess, then surely…" Luna tried to come up with some sort of reason as to why there couldn't have been a prince in the Silver Millennium, but found the task nearly impossible with her memories being as scattered as they were. "I'm not sure. Something just keeps telling me that there was no prince."

Rei sighed as her hands moved up to gently rub her temples with the tips of her fingers.

"But there is a lot that you don't remember. Maybe there was one," said Ami. "Perhaps if not a prince, then a male protector. That is what he has been to her all of this time. It explains why he's involved in the battle against the Dark Kingdom."

Luna sighed and looked down thoughtfully. "I suppose you're right, Ami-chan. I just need to consult central control to see if it knows anything."

The two girls nodded as they watched their advisor slowly walked out of the room before Rei sighed. "I don't think I've ever seen her looking so… So old… Do you think that Luna's going to be all right?"

Ami blinked. "She will be. She's just been having to make sure that Usagi's family is calm while keeping herself strong. She seems to be blaming herself for what happened, and she's going to have to see that it wasn't. It's just hard for her since she's been with Usagi since the beginning."

The young miko nodded slowly. "Hopefully, she'll start acting like herself when Usagi wakes up."

The young genius smiled softly at her friend. "I'm sure she will. Once Usagi is back home and tripping on everything. Just give her some time," she advised quietly before standing. "I'd better be getting home. Okaa-san is coming home tonight, and I said that I would have dinner with her."

"All right," Rei replied as she stood and led Ami towards the door. "I'll call you if I receive any word from Mamoru-san."

"Just have him call me. I'd like to be able to ask him a few questions."

Rei nodded. "I will, Ami-chan. Be careful."

Ami smiled. "Arigato, Rei-chan." She then headed out towards the stairs and home, leaving Rei, who in turn went to the room with the great fire.

-----------------

As Luna walked towards the Tsukino residence, she allowed herself to become lost in thoughts concerning what could have happened to her young charge. She wish she'd had taken the time to learn where Mamoru had lived, then she could go and check on Usagi, but, then again, hindsight is 20/20.

She never would have guessed Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor Moon's crush, to be Chiba Mamoru, the man with whom Usagi fought like no tomorrow. Though now that she compared the two, there were distinctive similarities between the two that should have made their connection all but painfully obvious.

She groaned inwardly as she started to cross the road, her mind still drifting, and never noticed the speeding car that was racing towards her, until she heard a familiar voice call out her name. Luna looked up and saw a multi-colored blur just before it grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and tumbled onto the sidewalk.

"Hey, you ok, neko-chan?" came a chirpy sounding voice that was eerily familiar to the red-eyed feline as she looked at the blonde girl who was currently holding her.

Luna felt the urge to speak, but bit her tongue and simply mewed curiously. She was wondering who had called out her name just moments before, and without even speaking it, her question was answered.

"Are you sure that this is Luna?" questioned the girl whose arms Luna was still being held. "She doesn't seem to know how to speak."

"Minako-chan…" sighed an exasperated male as the sounds of small paws moving along the pavement reached Luna's ears. "I'd recognize her from anywhere. Look at her brow. There should be a-"

"Artemis!" exclaimed Luna when she finally saw a white cat with faint bits of faded pink in his fur. "Wh-Where have you been!"

"I've been training Sailor Venus," he told her simply as he started to back away from the red eyed feline as she hopped down from the girl's arms with a murderous look on her face.

For a moment, Artemis thought that Luna was going to attack him for being gone for so long, but was taken by surprise when her turned sorrowful, and she sat before him.

"Um… Luna, what's the matter?" questioned Minako as she reached down to pet Luna between her ears.

"It… It's one of the senshi. Sailor Moon… She was captured," Luna explained.

"She what?" questioned Artemis in almost disbelief. "We- The senshi have to get her-"

"She's already been rescued, but from what Mars and Mercury told me, she didn't look like she was doing very well, and now, Tuxedo Kamen is taking care of her, but-"

"Who is taking care of her, Luna?" Minako asked, confusion obvious in her pale blue eyes.

"Tuxedo Kamen. He… He's been her unappointed guardian in battle I suppose one could say… He's the only person who seems to be taking this as hard as the senshi with the exception of her parents," Luna explained, not missing the look between Artemis and his own young charge. "What?"

"Luna, do you know what this young man looks like? Or who he is for that matter?" questioned Artemis.

"The senshi told me that he is a man known as Chiba Mamoru. He's rather tall with dark hair and blue eyes. Why? Is there something that we don't know about him that we should?" Luna questioned. "What haven't I been told, Artemis?"

"It might just be that some of my memories have come back before yours have, but if he is who I believe him to be, history could be in danger of repeating itself. Luna, we must get her away from him at once," he explained quickly. "We must find the other senshi. Tell me, have they all been gathered?"

"I've found Mars and Mercury. Sailor Jupiter has yet to reveal herself in any way or form," Luna informed.

Artemis nodded. "The three we have now should be enough to get her away from him."

"Artemis, what is so dangerous about him? I don't understand what you mean by history repeating itself."

"During the Silver Millennium, the princess wasn't killed by enemy forces. The prince of Earth, whose planet was not aligned with the Silver Millennium, died and she was unable to go on without him," explained Minako solemnly, revealing part of what she knew of the past that for so long had been a mystery to the dark furred guardian. "The princess killed herself. If Tuxedo Kamen, as you call him, is the prince, then he must be kept far from the princess and her guardians at all cost."

Luna sighed softly. "This will crush Usagi-chan… After everything she's been through… He was the only one who knew what took place the day before she was captured."

Minako and Artemis shared a knowing look before the white feline questioned, "Luna, what took place on that day?"

"I wasn't there, but what Usagi-chan explained was that there was a battle while the others were at school. An innocent child was killed, and she believes that she may have awoken a previously dormant power when she destroyed the youma," the cat explained.

"That was the power you felt, Minako-chan," Artemis said before looking at Luna. "We need to find Sailor Moon as well as grant Sailor Jupiter. I hadn't realized that things had progressed so quickly. This planet could be in more danger that I had originally thought."

Minako sighed. "Luna, is there any way that you can track Sailor Moo-" Her sentence was cut short by the low pitched wail coming from the nearby parking complex.

"We can discuss that later," said Luna before taking off towards the noise, to see whether the trouble was being caused by a youma or some punk who decided to try and take advantage of people.

When she arrived in the area which the noise came from, she looked around to see a large plant like youma staring down a tall girl with dark brown hair, green eyes, and athletic build that looked like it was ready for an all out war. What drew Luna's attention about the girl though was the brilliant insignia glowing on the girl's brow.

"Sailor Jupiter," she heard Artemis mutter as an orange clad senshi went racing by, leaping up to land squarely on the youma's back before flipping to stand in front of the girl.

"Daijoubu?" questioned Sailor Venus as she took a defensive stance in front of the girl.

"I think so, but I'm not sure about the guy behind me. That thing attacked him," the amazon like girl stated.

"Well, we can take care of him once this thing is taken care of," Venus said as she nodded to the two cats. "Right now, there is some business that needs to be taken care of. Luna!"

"Right!" she exclaimed before drawing a strange green stick from seemingly out of thin air before launching it as hard as she could, with Artemis' help as he launched it further by kicking it with his back paws. "Girl, catch!"

The brunette looked slightly surprised for a moment as a sense of familiarity washed over her. She saw the stick flying towards her, and leapt to the side to catch it.

"Good girl! Now call out, 'Jupiter power-"

Before Artemis could finish, the girl was repeating the last two words he uttered, and finished them out with, "MAKE UP!"

In a centralized explosion of green lightning, the girl was transformed into a green clad warrior. She made a fist in front of her face, in seeming awe of the new power coursing through her. Before she had a chance to fully comprehend what had just happened, Sailor Jupiter felt a body crash into her.

"You ok?" Venus asked as she rose to her feet.

Jupiter nodded and jumped up to stare down the creature before them. "I'm in better condition than that thing is going to be."

Venus nodded and smirked. Raising her hand above her head as Jupiter crossed her arms in front of her, the two prepared and launched their attacks simultaneously. When the combination of powers struck, the offending creature shrieked in pain before disintegrating into a pile of dust.

"Now that was awesome," Jupiter muttered as she looked down at her hands and saw faint bolts of lightning coursing over her fingers. "Who are you three? Better yet, what am I?"

"Senshi shish-kabob if I have anything to say about it," came a mocking voice from above. The four looked up to see a man with ashen blonde hair scowling down at them. Luna and Artemis took note that he was wearing the Dark Kingdom uniform, meaning that Nephrite had been destroyed and replaced. The two senshi on the other hand took note of how he was really pretty for a man.

Jupiter shook her head and glared up at him. "Are you the sleaze that sent that thing to attack innocent people?"

Zoicite laughed mockingly at the girl, causing her temper to flare. Just as she was about to launch a lightning blast at the infuriating blonde, she was blown back by a powerful blast of sakura petals and strong winds that sent them slamming into a cement wall behind them.

"A word of warning girls, I'm only sparing you now because I want to destroy all of you together. I want to see the look of pain and fear on all three of your faces," he told them as the two struggled to their feet, their backs and heads aching from the impact.

'He must think that we're Mars and Mercury,' Venus thought as she glared up at him.

"Now, I want you two to send a message to Sailor Moon. Tell her that she will pay for killing Nephrite. That was to be my duty should he have failed his last mission," he told the two before teleporting away in a barrage of pink.

"Nice guy," Jupiter stated sarcastically. "Friend of yours?"

Venus simply shook her head as she rubbed the back of her head. "Never met him before."

The taller senshi simply sighed before looking down at the cats. "Okay, now would you mind answering my questions now?"

"I am Luna, he is Artemis, and the young lady that you just fought beside is Sailor Venus. You are a sailor senshi," said Luna as though the answer were obvious. "Sailor Jupiter to be exact. You are a guardian of the moon princess."

Jupiter looked slightly confused as she felt herself power down, leaving her in her slightly torn school uniform. "Ok… So now answer another question for me. How is it that the two of you can talk? You're cats…"

"Yes, we are well aware of what species we seem to be, but we are the ones meant to train and awaken the senshi, of whom you are the last to be revealed," stated Artemis. "Welcome to the team, um… What is your name, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Kino Makoto," she said simply as she looked over to the red bowed blonde who was simply blinking while listen to everything that was going on.

"Oh!" she said when she realized that the new senshi was waiting for her name. "Aino Minako, desu!"

Makoto blinked at the change that had taken over the blonde. One moment a serious warrior and the next what seemed kind of ditzy.

"Sailor Venus, hmm…" murmured Makoto. "Any relation to Sailor V?"

"That's me, too," answered Minako.

"I thought that was more than coincidence. The red bow was a dead giveaway."

Minako blushed lightly. "It's kinda my trademark."

Artemis rolled his eyes and leaned over to Luna whispering, "More like a sign that she's too trusting. She wore the thing because a boy told her he liked it."

Luna blinked and looked at her fellow feline with a raised eyebrow.

"Artemis, am I going to have to dye you pink again for spreading gossip like a little old lady?" his charge threatened with a menacing glare.

Makoto giggled at the two before Luna cleared her throat. "Artemis, Minako-chan, I believe more pressing matters need to be attended to than simply Artemis being a gossip monger."

The two nodded, and Artemis looked up at Makoto. "Before we discuss things any further, I suggest we meet up with the other senshi."

Minako looked to Luna. "Shouldn't we be doing something to make sure the victim is all right?"

Artemis blinked and looked to where the fallen man had been lying previously. "I think it is safe to say that he left during the battle, or at least when that arrogant general showed up."

Makoto nodded. "He hadn't been hurt. I just knocked him out of the way of an attack, and told him to stay down."

Luna blinked. "Makoto-chan, please tell me that he didn't see your face."

The brunette looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't think so. I tackled him from behind when I saw the thing materialize. I told him to stay down and not to move until it was safe. I guess he listened…"

Artemis sighed. "Well, let's just hope that he didn't get a good look at your face."

"Now, I suggest that we go and talk to the other senshi. They must be informed of their new team members," Luna said as she started towards the exit. "If you want to come, I suggest you follow me since I don't think any of you have ever met them before."

The three remaining looked at each other before walking after the kuro neko.

----------------

When Usagi woke, she blinked and looked around before her eyes came upon the peaceful face of a sleeping Mamoru. She smiled softly as she carefully lifted a hand to his face to brush a lock of hair out of his eyes. She allowed her hand to drift down along his face slowly, making sure that she didn't wake him up. Her smile was replaced by a frown when she noticed the dark circles under his eyes from lack of rest.

She sighed as she removed her hand from his face and rested her head on his shoulder. A small tear drifted from her eye as she thought back to the past few days, recalling the final scene which Nephrite had shown her. She had been shown the death of Endymion, the prince of Earth, and Selenity, the princess she was meant to protect.

Watching that scene had caused her more pain than Nephrite had planned, though the pain was emotional rather than physical, for it showed that no matter how much she wanted, nor how much she tried, any sort of relationship could never go past simply friends. At the same moment, however, the scene had made Usagi realize her own feelings.

She hadn't been able to make out the face of her princess from the scene, just the faint glow that seemed to come from her silver hair, but the prince, Endymion. She would have recognized that face anywhere. The face of the princess' lover was the very same as that of the man she was currently resting beside. She knew why the princess had fallen in love with him, for those reasons were most likely the same as her own.

Usagi bit her lower lip as she forced back a quiet sob. Fate was proving to be truly cruel to her. She had fallen in love with the man who had died for her princess, and she wasn't sure that she was going to be able to handle having to watch him be with another woman every day for who knew how long. But then, who was she to think that he had fallen in love with her. He had been kind to her over recent past, but perhaps that was just some sense of loyalty to the princess that had yet to have been discovered forcing him to try and lift her spirits to the point that she would be at least an adequate guardian and sailor senshi.

The more she thought, the more she knew that she had to get away, though she doubted that she would be able to get very far. She just knew that she had to get out of the bed which they were currently sharing.

Slowly, Usagi removed herself from his sleeping form and rose to stand on protesting legs. She leaned on the nightstand for support for a moment to allow her legs to steady before walking away. She looked at the door, and wondered if it squeaked. Not wanting to take that chance, she looked out to the balcony. It wasn't far, but at least she would be able to clear her thoughts and get some fresh air.

She slowly walked over to the glass door which separated the room from the outside, and silently slid it open before stepping out, and allowing it to close behind her.

The blonde walked over and leaned against the railing just as her legs began to once again feel that they were going to give out beneath her. She remembered the last time that her legs had given out, though that was caused more by a youma than mere weakness. Tears sprang to her eyes as she remembered the tender way which he had held her in his arms as he carried her home that night.

Unable to stop the pain in her heart, Usagi gave way to the sobs that rose up in her.

--------------


	9. The Garden of Everything

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Title: Sanctuary **  
Author: Maetel** **  
Email: ****  
URL: N/A ** **  
Rating: M 15+** **  
Summary: When Sailor Moon witnesses the death of an innocent, Usagi ends up turning to Mamoru in her darkest hour. Minor alterations have been made on the timeline so that Mamoru knows who he is, while Nephrite is around.** **  
Chapters: 9?** **  
Status: Incomplete**

****

Year Completed: Incomplete ****

Eyes of pure

Deep azure

Quite unbelievable

The sun's daughter

You've been made

Not to fade

Quite inconceivable

- Sakamoto Maaya & Steve Conte "The Garden of Everything"

When Mamoru woke, he noticed that Usagi wasn't beside him, and that the spot where she had been lying was cold. He frowned wondering where she had gone. He got up and started towards the living room, but stopped when he felt a chill pass over him. He looked over and saw Usagi sitting, leaning against the railing of the balcony. He quietly walked outside and knelt before her, placing a gentle hand on her arm.

"Are you all right, Usagi-chan?" he asked softly. He was afraid of what might have been going through her mind after what Nephrite had put her through. If only he had some idea of what had been done, he might have been able to come up with some way to assure her that everything was going to be okay.

She looked at him with a weary smile and nodded. "I just needed to clear my head. I didn't want to wake you."

He noticed the way that she avoided his eyes as she spoke and frowned. "Usagi-chan… Seriously, are you all right?"

She looked at him once again, this time her eyes were shining with unshed tears. "I- I was just thinking about what Nephrite showed me. He showed me things, images from the Silver Millennium. He… He showed me how the kingdom fell. He showed me how… You… He showed me that you were there, and how you died back then."

Mamoru was dumbstruck for a moment before sighing. "How can you trust anything that he showed you? He was doing it all just to hurt you."

Usagi nervously chewed on her lower lip as she tried to think of some way to explain how she felt. "I know that he was showing it to me just to hurt me, but you didn't see what I did. Some how I knew that every bit of it was real. The memories were all clicking and making sense."

"Then he might have been doing more than what we had originally thought. He might have been trying to turn you against everything that you stand for. The Dark Kingdom will pull different tactics to try and get rid of any ene-"

"I'd seen it all before…" she said softly. "In dreams… I just never placed the faces before. Well, the face. All I'd had was a name, and now it makes sense."

Mamoru looked at her thoughtfully before quietly saying, "Endymion."

Usagi's eyes widened in shock as she looked at him. She wondered how he knew of the name she had known from the dream, and tried to remember if she had ever said the name in his presence. It was then that she remembered when he had first arrived to rescue her. She vaguely recalled referring to Mamoru as Endymion, and was sure that she had more than likely muttered the name in her sleep.

"You think that I'm him…" Mamoru trailed. "Usagi-chan, whatever happened during the Silver Millennium is-"

"She died for you," Usagi told him. "You died protecting her, and she k-"

"Killed herself with my sword…" Mamoru said as he remembered back to the dream that had taken place after Usagi had first watched the child die. "I suppose that those are memories, but why would you be having dreams recalling my memories?"

Usagi shrugged. "Maybe our link?" she suggested.

Mamoru sighed and shook his head. "I don't think so. There is something more to this. If these are truly memories, the only person who should have any recollection of that is the princess."

"But I've seen some very distinct images of the princess in that scene that Nephrite showed me. She had silver hair, and if you haven't noticed, my hair is not silver."

"No, but it was when you first started fighting as Sailor Moon. Once Mercury showed up, your hair became blonde in battle. I never really understood why but-"

"Wait a minute. Are you saying that you think that I am the princess?" Usagi questioned. "I'm one of-"

"Her protectors, but you yourself have admitted that you were not cut out for fighting," he reminded her. "You have to think. What if Luna made a mistake? What if she enlisted you as a senshi without any idea that you could really be-"

"But Luna has insisted time and time again, that we-"

"Must find the princess, I know, but what if her memories have been suppressed just a small bit less than everyone else's. She knows who the senshi are, but has no clue that she could actually be disguised in the one way no enemy would suspect," Mamoru suggested. "The princess as a senshi. Who would ever suspect?"

Usagi blinked, wanting so hard to believe him, but not wanting to at the same time. She had never thought of herself as the princess type. Then again, she'd never really acted like all of the princesses from movies or books. She wasn't graceful, intelligent, elegant, or very pretty.

Mamoru frowned Usagi's train of thought as she unknowingly voiced her thoughts aloud. He hadn't known that she thought so lowly of herself. He sighed as he reached out and pressed the tips of his fingers to her lips.

"Whether you see it or not, Usagi-chan, you are like a princess. You put the safety of others before that of yourself. That is the sign of a great ruler, or soon to be ruler. And you may not be book smart, but you are intelligent in your own way. You know how to reach out to people in a way that few can. You've befriended the people who have spent most of their lives by themselves, isolated emotionally," he said as his hand slowly drifted from her mouth to rest on her cheek. She leaned into his touch, despite the blush that stained her cheeks.

Usagi wasn't sure how to respond. She'd never heard him speak in suck a manner to her. Tears stung her eyes at the sincerity in his voice as he spoke.

She tried to speak, but before one syllable was uttered, she felt his lips gently brush against her own, before firmly pressing his mouth to hers.

'Oh, Kami-sama… I died… This… This is too unreal…' she thought as she felt his tongue run along her lower lip in a silent plea for entrance like a man begging for sanctuary.

Mamoru heard the small blonde whimper and broke the kiss, afraid that he had scared her with his sudden behavior. He didn't know what had come over him. One moment he was trying to make her see just how possible it was for her to be a princess and the next, he was kissing her like a man dying from thirst. Common sense was telling him that she was most likely too emotionally fragile to be able to handle any sort of overly emotional display from him, and yet, every other part of him, his heart, his soul, each of his senses- hell, his very being, simply could not get enough.

He studied her. He looked at her eyes that were slowly once again drifting open, her lips that looked swollen, and her cheeks that were flushed delicately. 'She's beautiful,' was the only thought that came to his mind.

Usagi on the other hand, couldn't recall anytime when she had ever felt so complete. She felt as though she had found a part of herself that she had never known was missing. That she and Mamoru were the only ones on the planet, and that the thought wasn't as bad as she would have once believed it to be.

"Wow…" she whispered softly. She felt his eyes upon her, and looked into their depths for a moment before she forced herself to look away, for fear of being taken in by them completely.

"Usagi-chan, daijobu?" Mamoru asked. "I… I didn't mean to scare you. I- I don't know what came over me. I just-"

"Daijobu," she said softly as she lifted a hand to his mouth to quiet him. "I wasn't scared. Just surprised. I… I've never…" She trailed off as she tried to tell him that the kiss was unlike any other, but felt that those words simply weren't enough.

Mamoru look confused but a thought soon dawned upon him as he remembered how many times he'd heard girls in his classes discussing their first kisses and he almost smacked himself. "That wasn't your fir-"

Usagi smiled and shook her head to quiet him. She remembered the night at the princess' ball which she and the other senshi had snuck into, and had a very hazy memory of being kissed, but even then, that night didn't compare. "That wasn't but you were though."

Mamoru thought back and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I don't think I-"

"Remember? The girl at the princess' ball a couple of months ago. I wound up spilling some juice on my dress," she told him.

"That was you? I almost thought that she was… the princess… How did you manage to change your appearance so much?" he asked.

"Luna gave me a disguise pen. I used it to sneak into the ball to see if the crystal that she had was the ginzuishou. I've also used it a few more times, but those are going to be my little secret," she stated with a proudly mischievous smile that made Mamoru both glad and worried. Glad that her spirits seemed to have lifted a great deal in so short a time, but worried about just what else she had done while using the pen that Luna had given her.

"Wait a minute. What have you done with the pen before?" he asked. "And don't tell me you've only used it on official senshi business."

"I'll have you know that it was all senshi business. I'm not just going to go around risking trouble that I wouldn't be able to get out of without being able to answer some questions about who I am. If not for that people countless people could have been lost to the Dark Kingdom, and I'm too good a sen-"

Mamoru blinked when she stopped, wondering why she had, and almost smiled when he realized that she had more than likely stopped because of the last few words that were escaping her lips.

"I'm a good senshi…" she said as though the words were foreign yet colloquial. She looked down at her hands before looking up at Mamoru with a strangely lost look to them, as though she were trying to see if she were correct in her assumption.

"Better than good," he told her as he reached out and gently took hold of her hand. "You are Sailor Moon, the senshi who has proven her worth in battle countless times, and even more so if you truly are the princess."

"Fortunately, that is a fact that you are not going to be privy to finding out," stated a voice that startled both Mamoru and Usagi as they jumped to their feet.

"Who's out there?" cried out the young blonde as she instinctively reached up to grasp her broach. "Show yourself now!"

"Gomen nasai, Sailor Moon, but you must get away from him immediately. You're very life is in danger the longer that you associate yourself with him," stated the voice as an unfamiliar senshi landed on the balcony railing before them. Usagi was taken back by how the look in the girl's eyes was one of conflict between loyalty and an emotion that she couldn't quite place. Something akin to sorrow, but different.

"Another senshi," murmured Mamoru, snapping Usagi out of her reverie. "Who are you?"

"Your worst nightmare if you do not step away from her, now," stated yet another unfamiliar voice as another senshi, one clad in green and pink, dropped down behind them.

"That's enough, Jupiter. They are to be separated, not harmed," snapped Venus before returning her attention to the two. "I am Sailor Venus, formerly known as Sailor V."

"Where are Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury?" Usagi questioned as she from one to the other, while her left hand reached back and grasped Mamoru's.

"They are on the rooftops, ready to come to our aide if necessary," Jupiter stated, her emerald green eyes watching the two closely, wondering what would happen if the people before her knew what had happened in their past lives.

"It will be more than necessary, if you truly do intend on taking Usagi anywhere against her will. She's been through enough. Allow her this time to recover," Mamoru said as he pulled Usagi behind him defensively. Before he could realize what was happening however, Sailor Mars leapt behind him and ripped Usagi from his grasp.

The blonde struggled against the fire senshi's hold and looked to the recently identified blonde. She had always idolized the girl before her, but never thought about how anything like this could have happened should they ever meet. Shaking her head, she glared at Venus an asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"We're doing this to protect you, Usagi-chan," came the soft voice of Mercury as she dropped down beside Jupiter. "We don't want to see you hurt any further. We do this because we care for you."

"If you take me from him, you'll be hurting me," Usagi pleaded with the blue haired warrior. "I need him as much as I need any of you."

"Trust us, hi- Sailor Moon; this is for your own good. You will come to see that in time," Venus countered gently.

"Do you mean I won't be able to run myself through with-"

"Don't even say it, Usagi-chan!" snapped Mamoru.

"No, if our guess is right, then they are fighting for a girl who wasn't strong enough to survive on her own. I'm not going to kill myself if that is what they are so afraid of," Usagi stated as she felt Mars stiffen behind her, distracting her long enough for the small blonde to escape the hold that she had been put in. She could tell that her words had struck home for Sailor Venus as she looked down.

"Usagi-chan, we are simply doing our duty. We don't want to see you hurt, and we don't know where Mamoru's allegiances lie," stated Mars

"You may not, but I do," Usagi said as she look to each of them. She sighed before looking to Venus. "So I take it that Mamoru was right. I am who everyone's been looking for, aren't I? I'm the princess."

Venus slowly nodded. "That is correct. Do you understand why-"

"No. I don't understand. Everything that I have done in this life should prove that I am not the same girl I was back then," she stated. "For the princess to have been given the powers of a senshi and be sent out to fight in a war. The very war that she died during in her past life. None of that would make me the same person I was back then."

"Yes, but the Dark Kingdom might have decided to use him as a means of getting to you. We cannot run that-"

Usagi laughed almost tiredly. "I never thought that I would have to do this. I never thought that I would be able to do this. In all honesty, I never even considered it until now, but since it seems to be true that I'm the princess-"

"Usagi-chan, what are you doing?" Mamoru asked. Usagi turned and smiled at him, placing two fingers to his lips.

"I'm doing what I have to, Mamoru-kun," she said with a small smile before looking at each of the senshi. "I do not know two of you as well as I know the others, but I expect this to be followed by each of you just the same." She stopped and took a deep breath as if gathering her thoughts. "As princess of the Silver Millennium, I command each of you to stop this ridiculous… I just command you to stop. I refuse to let anyone keep me from being near who ever I wish."

Mars' eyes widened in disbelief. "But Usagi-cha-"

"No, Mars. Since you all seem to be so stuck in the belief that I am the same girl I was in my past life, then I am making sure that I give a command that will be followed. I am your princess, am I not?" Usagi questioned, her eyes pained and yet stern. The look in the blonde's eyes forced Mars to look away almost ashamedly.

The fire senshi swallowed hard before looking to the others. "She is correct. Our princess has given us an order."

Venus looked dumbstruck at the way in which everything has gotten turned around. "Princess, you must realize that we do this to protect you. We don't want to see you in pain, but this is our duty. We swore to the queen in our past lives that you would be protected."

"And now, the queen is dead…" Usagi said softly. She knew that her words sounded cold, but she had to make sure that there was no chance that her senshi would attempt something of this caliber again. "I am the princess, though the kingdom is gone. I will never become queen, but I am the last in the line. Either give me your word that you won't interfere in this manner again, or face the idea that you will be going against the order of your… leader."

Jupiter lowered her head for a moment before lifting her eyes to look at the girl. "You have my word, Sai-"

"Please, call me Usagi. I am more than simply Sailor Moon," she stated. "And thank you…"

"Kino Makoto, desu," Jupiter stated with a small bow.

Usagi nodded before looking to the others. Mars and Mercury looked to each other before placing their hands over their hearts and bowing to the blonde. When they both straightened, Mercury said, "You have our word."

Usagi almost cried at the sight of her two allies before looking to Venus. "What of you? Do I have your word as well, Sailor Venus?"

Venus stood silent for a moment before allowing herself to power down. "As both Sailor Venus and Aino Minako, you have my word. But if any harm ever comes to you, I may be forced to break my vow, but then I have a feeling that goes for all of us."

Usagi nodded and smiled as tears started to drift down her face. "Arigato, minna."

Mamoru looked down at the shorter girl and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks as they fell. "Are you all right, Usagi-chan?"

"Hai," she whispered softly. "I suppose everything's setting in and it's really overwhelming."

"If you want you can lie down in my bed for a while. I want to talk to your senshi in the living room for a bit, if that's all right," he told her.

"It's fine," she replied. "Girls, be nice to him."

Jupiter blinked as she powered down, slightly amused by her newly found princess' words. Rei and Ami both powered down and raised a eyebrow in confusion. Ami for actually being told to be nice, and Rei for being told to be nice to Mamoru.

'When did they get so close?' the young miko thought. Shaking her head she smiled. "Is hitting him on the head with a shoe allowed? You do it all the time, so it's got to be fair game."

Usagi simply stuck her tongue out at the raven haired girl but smiled nonetheless.

Minako simply watched everything that had occurred as Luna and Artemis hopped down onto the floor of the balcony beside her.

"Couldn't wait for us, could you?" Artemis questioned grumpily.

"I think violently purple might go well with your eye color , Artemis. What do you think?" she asked, quieting the feline as his female counterpart laughed at his expression of terror.

"Minako-chan, mind filling us in on what has been going on," Luna questioned as her laughs calmed into giggles and then faded entirely. She waited for the young woman's reply as she watched Usagi wrap her arms around Mamoru before heading back into the room.

"I'll do that, Luna," said Mamoru. "That is if you and the others would join me for a moment in the living room. There are some things that I wish to discuss with each of you."

Luna looked to Usagi who was making herself comfortable on Mamoru's bed. "Might I be allowed to stay with Usagi-chan instead. Artemis can inform me of all that is discussed."

"I suppose that would be all right," Mamoru said with a nod.

"Arigato," Luna said before heading over and hopping onto the mattress to curl up next to her young mistress and charge.

The others smiled and followed Mamoru as he headed off of the balcony and through the door of his room.


	10. Anything For You

**Title: Sanctuary** **  
Author: Maetel** **  
Email: ****  
URL: N/A ** **  
Rating: M 15+** **  
Summary: When Sailor Moon witnesses the death of an innocent, Usagi ends up turning to Mamoru in her darkest hour. Minor alterations have been made on the timeline so that Mamoru knows who he is, while Nephrite is around.** **  
Chapters: 10/10** **  
Status: Complete**

**Year Completed: 2005**

**Nothing left to make me feel anymore**

**There's only you and everyday I need more**

**If you want me**

**Come and find me**

**I'll do anything you say, just tell me**

"Anything for You" by Evanescence

Mamoru watched as each of the senshi sat on his couch and on the floor. They all looked at him as though they were being judged, waiting for some sign of approval. Why they looked at him in such a manner, he didn't know. Perhaps they were hoping that through him, they would find some sort of pardon for their actions which had taken place during the previous few minutes.

"What did you wish to speak with us about, Mamoru-san?" questioned Ami from where she sat between Makoto and Rei.

"I wanted you to give me your words that you'd keep Usagi from getting into too much trouble," he said as he looked over towards the door to his room. "Something is coming, and I'm not sure what. I have a feeling that I'm not going to be here to protect her, as much as I wish I could. I know that she isn't the princess, but she is impulsive, and that may bring her to face more dangerous foes than any of us can realize."

Minako blinked at his words. "You've felt it too?" she asked softly. "The enemy is closer than we could have imagined?"

Mamoru nodded. "I- I'm not sure how to explain it. I can feel them. They aren't on the planet, but their influence is spreading, and I'm going to try and go do what I can to stop them. I might not return, and if I fail, I want to make sure that Usagi-chan is protected."

"Why not wait until Usagi is fully recovered from her ordeal, and then go with us to find this enemy?" Rei asked.

"If I choose to wait that long, it might be too late. Besides, the ginzuishou has yet to be found. We all know that it is necessary if there is any hope of defeating this enemy. My going should buy you some time to find it and have Usagi-chan properly train to use it," Mamoru said with a sigh. One look at his face made it obvious that the decision he was making was a painful one. It simply didn't answer one question.

"What is the real reason you are doing this?" Makoto questioned. "There has to be more to it. You're going into this with the belief that it is going to be a suicide mission. That much is clear since you didn't discuss this in front of the princess."

"I don't want the enemy growing strong enough to capture Usagi-chan again. What happened... You didn't see what happened when she reached her breaking point. You didn't feel the anguish through our bonds. I don't want her to have to go through that again. She means too much to me to let her go through that hell again."

"But you'll be causing her more pain if you go about doing this," stated Minako as she pushed a lock of her long blonde hair behind her ear. "The princess needs you right now, Mamoru-san."

"I know that, but this time, I'm not going to put her in as much danger as she was in the past life. The war waged too long when I have a feeling that it could have been stopped while it was still on Earth. I'm not letting it completely reach my planet this time," he stated, his dark blue eyes almost glowing with an internal fire. "She may be angry with my decision, but I will leave it to you to make sure that she understands that I do this in order to make sure that she will be safe and well prepared."

"What are you going to do if you are captured?" Makoto asked. "They might torture you, or worse."

"I'm prepared to deal with that. I believe that Usagi is strong enough to handle anything that this war may throw at her. She's fought as Sailor Moon, and look what has happened to her over the course of the battles that she has fought. I know that she will do whatever she has to, despite anything that happens."

Artemis looked down at his paws for a moment. "I believe that he is making the right decision, but I have to ask… Are you going to be telling the princess of your plan?"

"I'm not quite sure," he replied. "I… I've not thought that far ahead. I'm not quite sure if I'll even tell her that I am going. I don't want her to do anything rash."

"If you don't tell her your plan, you should at least go see her once before you go. If you tell us, but not tell her, she'll be hurt all the more," Rei said as she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "She… She is strong, but she hasn't completely recovered from the ordeal with Nephrite. Thinking you've gone and been killed might be…"

"I'll see her before I go. I just wish for one of you to stay with her for the night. Make sure she makes it home in the morning safely. I don't want her going anywhere tonight. She needs to rest," he said.

"What are you going to tell her?" the blonde asked.

"I'll tell her that I received a letter concerning something urgent that needs to be taken care of immediately," he replied. "That should keep her from worrying too much."

"I'm not going to lie to my princess," Minako asked. "If she asks, I will tell her the truth."

"I understand. Just…" Mamoru stopped unsure of what to say. "Just make sure that she doesn't do anything when you tell her. I… I don't want her fighting the Dark Kingdom head on until she is ready."

"Very well," she replied. "I understand. Be careful though."

"I will," he told her before he turned and faced his bedroom door. He looked at Minako one more time. "Thank you."

She nodded once before Mamoru headed into his room. He opened the door slowly, as to prevent any sort of squeaking that he knew wouldn't occur. He shut the door behind him, simply staring at her with a sad smile before Luna raised her head to look at him.

"Mamoru-san, are you all right?" the dark coated feline questioned.

"Hai, Luna," he said. "Would you mind letting me speak with Usagi alone for a moment? I'll not be long."

Luna nodded and hopped off of the bed a moment later. She looked at Usagi for a second before heading out of the door which Mamoru was holding open. Before he closed it, he called her quietly asking, "Whatever the senshi tell you, would you please not relay back to Usagi unless it is absolutely necessary?"

She looked at him for a moment, confusion clear on her face but she nodded nonetheless. "I'll do as you ask, Mamoru-san."

"Thank you," he said simply before closing the door. He then turned once more to see Usagi, who was slowly waking up. She looked over at him and smiled sleepily.

"Did you and the girls have a nice talk?" she asked.

"Hai, Usagi-chan," he said as he walked over and sat beside her on the bed. "I just received a notice though. I'm going to have to go away. Something's come up concerning an inheritance. I'm not sure how long I'm going to have to go."

She looked at him as though she were trying to see if he were lying, but apparently he kept his face blank enough for her not to tell. With a sigh, she spoke. "Are you sure? There's still a lot to do?" she asked. "We still have to find the ginzuishou."

"I know, and I'll be doing everything I can to help," he told her. "This is something that I have to do. I'm sorry."

Usagi looked down trying to hide the tears that threatened to fall. She wasn't sure if what she was feeling was enough for him to sense through their bond, but in case it wasn't she didn't want him to see how much it was affecting her.

"Usagi-chan," Mamoru started. "Look at me, please. I know that this is going to be hard on the both of us considering everything that has happened, but I'm afraid that I don't have much choice."

She lifted her head to look at him with cheeks that were sporting tracks of tears, and eyes that were quickly becoming rimmed with red.

"What if something happens while you're gone?" she asked. "What if we need you? What if… What if I need you?"

"I'll do all that I can to return to you as soon as possible. I promise," Mamoru told her as he lifted his hand to caress her cheek. "There are two new senshi out there to help you fight if you ever need any help in battle. Luna and Artemis will be here to guide you."

Usagi nodded and smiled sadly at him. "Just return to me soon?"

"As soon as I possibly can," he said as he pulled her to him in an embrace that he hoped and prayed would not be their last.

Usagi wrapped her arms around him tightly, unwilling to let him go, though she knew that she would soon have to. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you as well, Usako," he said, letting the name slip. She looked at him with a small smile on her face.

"Usako?" she asked.

Mamoru simply nodded as he formed a rose behind her back. He slowly pulled away from her so that he could hold the rose in front of her. He watched as Usagi stared at it.

Instead of the normal red rose he pulled from within his tuxedo jacket, he'd formed a small white rose that had yet to completely bloom. Usagi took it from him, gently cradling it in her hands as she looked up at him. "It's beautiful."

"Hai, and it holds special meaning. This rose will never wilt unless something happens to me. This is my way of letting you know that I am all right and that I'll come back to you, no matter what," he told her.

Usagi smiled. She then quickly leapt up and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Arigato… Mamo-chan."

Mamoru blinked and smiled at her name for him as he returned her embrace, burying his face in her hair, memorizing its scent and its feel.

"When are you leaving?" she asked.

"I was told that I needed to leave right away, so I'll be going in a little while," he told her. "You are free to stay here for the night, as well as come back whenever you need to. The extra key is with Motoki-kun. If you choose to stay here tonight, one of the girls will stay with you and take you home in the morning since your parents need to be told that you're all right as well as shown that you are safe."

"I understand, Mamo-chan," she said sadly. "Just… I don't want you to go."

Mamoru sighed. "I know. I… I wish I didn't have to, but this is urgent enough to require my immediate attention. I'll… I'll find some way to contact you."

"All right. Just be careful," she said. "Even with special powers, none of us are 100 safe. I'm worried that something might happen."

"If something does, you'll be the first to know," he told her. "Just have faith that I'll come back to you though."

"I do," she said.

"I've better get going," he said softly. "I'll have to grab some clothes out of my dryer and then leave."

"Be safe, my prince…" she said as she watched him walk towards the door.

"I will. You have my word, Usako," he told her before walking out of the room, closing the door behind him, leaving a tearful blonde in his wake.

As he walked back into the room, the six beings occupying it looked at him.

"What did you tell her?" question Artemis.

"I told her that I would be gone for a while because I have been called away on business concerning an inheritance. She… She might have some idea, but if she did, she didn't let on. She's… She just needs someone with her for a little while. I just want to make sure that she's ok."

"We shall, Mamoru-kun," said Rei.

"Arigato," he said before heading towards the exit. He turned to look back at each of them. "If anything does happen to me though, tell her I'm sorry."

The four girls nodded solemnly.

Mamoru then walked out of the apartment, though whether or not it would be the last time, he didn't know.

-----------------------

The following morning, Sailor Mars escorted Usagi home. The raven haired young miko was surprised when they not only embraced their daughter tearfully, but her as well. They muttered soft words of thanks to the raven haired senshi, asking her to relay the message to anyone who had any part in bringing their daughter home.

Mars nodded, and as she turned to leave, Usagi's mother sent her daughter, son, and husband inside before calling out to the young senshi.

"Sailor Mars, might I ask you something?" the blue haired woman inquired.

"I suppose…" Mars said hesitantly. "What is it you wish to ask?"

"My daughter. She's involved deeper in this than anyone has let us know. That much I have gathered on my own, and my intuition has led me to believe one thing. There is only one person who could be put in so much danger for such seemingly simple reasons." For a moment, the older woman hesitated. "Usagi-chan… She's Sailor Moon isn't she?"

Mars blinked, but nodded. "That's correct. Can I have your word that you will not tell anyone this? She's been… She's been through a great deal over the recent past, and she doesn't deserve the stress that comes with being unmasked to the public."

"I'll keep her secret. I honestly had no intention of telling it. I just wanted to know for sure. Just… There is one more thing that I need to ask you. I hope you do not mind, but what happened to the young man, Tuxedo Kamen? I thought that he would have accompanied her home," Ikuko questioned. "When he was here last, he seemed almost devoted to her. That much is even more apparent when considering Usagi's… Public persona."

Mars looked to the blue haired woman and sighed. "He was… Devoted so much that he's gone to try and do everything he can to ensure her safety. She doesn't know, and we're trying to protect her from finding out what he is doing. Knowing that he's going to possibly sacrifice himself to ensure her safety could prove to be too much for her."

"I think I understand. Thank you, Sailor Mars."

The senshi of fire simply nodded in response before walking away leaving the woman with thoughts concerning just who her daughter really was weighing upon her mind and her heart.

-----------------------

Two nights later as the time neared midnight, just as two of the girls were preparing to go to bed, and the others were up working on all that they could to try and track Tuxedo Kamen's progress against the Dark Kingdom.

It was in those moments that the four girls were forced to stop what they each were doing and jumped to their feet after receiving an unconsciously psychic cry that rang throughout each of their heads. A cry which no one knew the meaning of, but intended to find out as soon as possible.

They each quickly henshined and raced to Usagi's home to find Luna as well as Usagi's parents trying to comfort the young blonde as she clutched to her breast a small wilted rose.

In all of the commotion, while only one small black cat noticed the incandescent gem lying helplessly on the floor, no one noticed the small rosebud that had developed and was quickly getting ready to bloom.

-----------------------

That is it for this fic. I have started on the sequal. Hopefully everyone will enjoy it as much as they enjoyed Sanctuary. I'll try to post soon, but since I am at home over the winter break, it might be a while.


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